The insistence of government officials on the possibility that Colombia import natural gas from venezuela It highlights that 17 years after the agreement that opened the doors to this option, the neighboring country still does not meet the requirements agreed at that time.
Since the requirements have not been met, the gas import contract could not be executed despite what officials such as the Finance Minister, José Antonio Ocampo, said. The head of the portfolio recently said that «if there are possibilities» to buy Venezuelan gas.
(Also read: The future of oil and natural gas looks increasingly uncertain)
In 2004, a contract was agreed between the state oil companies of the two countries, Ecopetrol and PDVSAto import gas from Venezuela.
However, the eventual operation was conditional on the fulfillment of some commitments by the Venezuelan state company, such as adapting the quality conditions of natural gas to send it to Colombiaremove CO2 and raise the pressure and dew point.
Today, none of these requirements is fulfilled by the hydrocarbon that Venezuela can offer.
So far, Colombia has never bought Venezuelan gas, but it has made sales to the neighboring country. It was between 2007 and 2015, under another 2004 contract between Ecopetrol and PDVSA, which has already been settled, and the transport infrastructure has not been used for about eight years.
Gas exports were made through the Antonio Ricaurte gas pipeline, which is 225 kilometers long and connects the Ballena field, located in La Guajira, with Maracaibo (Venezuela).
It is necessary to develop new infrastructure that connects the Antonio Ricaurte gas pipeline with the gas production fields in Venezuela
At the time, this infrastructure was built with an investment of 335 million dollars by PDVSA and the natural gas that was sent from Colombia was used to reinject itself into the oil fields of the neighboring country and thus increase production figures.
As this gas pipeline has been inactive since 2015, for eventual importation from Venezuela it is required execute millionaire investments that allow a reading of the existing infrastructure.
Additionally, according to the president of Naturgás, Luz Stella Murgas, it is necessary to develop a new infrastructure that connects the Antonio Ricaurte gas pipeline with the gas production fields in Venezuela. AND adapt the conditions of the quality of the gas molecule because it does not meet the standards to enter the national gas pipeline network.
In addition to this, it does not make sense for Venezuela to export natural gas when it is one of the Latin American countries with the lowest level of coverage, with 6 percent. It does not reach the proportion of one in ten homes with a natural gas supply. On the contrary, coverage in colombia is 82.2 percent.
This alternative of importing natural gas from Venezuela has never been well received by the unions that represent the producers. For example, the president of the Colombian Association of Oil and Gas (ACP)), Francisco José Lloreda, has reiterated that the exploitation of own resources must be prioritized, since generates jobs, royalties, taxes and purchase of goods and services in the country.
(Also read: Canacol Energy announced three gas discoveries in Magdalena, Cesar and Córdoba)
Along the same lines, the president of naturgas It highlights that Colombia has potential natural gas reserves that, if explored, would make it possible to meet, in a reliable and safe manner, the needs of the 36 million Colombians who consume this fuel today in their homes.
«If we develop the reserve potential that we have in offshore and inland areas, we could even be exporters,» he said.
According to Ecopetrol, in the cape gooseberry discovery -1 (Caribbean Sea) there is a gas potential of between 3 and 5 cubic tirapiés (tpc), which could serve to replace all the reserves that the country currently has.
While in Orca -a find that occurred in 2004 in deep waters north of the coast of La Guajira- preliminary reports indicate that it will have 0.4 to 0.5 tpc, in addition to additional maturation potential of between 3.5 and 4.5 tpc.
«Both Uchuva and Gorgon, if one looks at them independently or individually, each is a world-class (natural gas) discoveryeach one is bigger than Cusiana or Cupiagua and they can be put into production before the end of this decade,” said Felipe Bayón, president of Ecopetrol.
But important discoveries of natural gas have also been found on the mainland, such as those of Canacol Energy, CleanEnergy and NG Energy in the departments of Magdalena, Cesar and Córdoba.
