The former Vice President of the Republic, German Vargas Lleraspublished in his Sunday column in EL TIEMPO a series of observations on the handling that the National government to the subject of gas.
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In them they presented a collation of the recent crisis experienced by nearly two million inhabitants of the Eje Cafetero and Valle del Cauca who for more than a week had no natural gas in their homes on account of damage in the logistics that allows the supply.
Propane gas sales soared after shortages.
Juan Pablo Rueda. TIME
For Vargas Lleras, this crisis in homes occurred just when the Minister of Mines and Energy, Irene Vélez, informed the country that the Proven natural gas reserves decreased by 11 percent in 2022 compared to those in 2021, thus leaving Colombia with gas reserves for 7.2 years.
Given the importance of gas reflected in the crisis in the Eje y Valle, the former vice president and political chief of Cambio Radical questioned that President Gustavo Petro did not attend the Naturgás Congressand that its official -Minister Vélez- “evaded” the questions related to signing new contracts for the exploration and production of gas in the country, which is concentrated in departments such as Casanare.
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All the experts agree on the need to reconsider the refusal to grant new exploration areas and, in general, to expand the coverage and use of this fuel.
“All the experts agree on the need to reconsider the refusal to grant new exploration areas and, in general, to expand the coverage and use of this fuel. The interesting thing is that it is no longer just the former minister (José Antonio) Ocampo who defends this position, but the director of National Planning, ivan gonzalezand, who would believe it, the very president of the Union Sindical Obrera de la Industria del Petróleo (USO), César Loza, who affirmed that without reservations the energy transition is at risk. Will these gentlemen also be part of the “soft coup”?“Vargas Lleras wrote in his Sunday column.
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To support his objection, the political leader highlighted that there are currently 37 suspended contracts for oil and gas exploration due to social conflicts -prior consultations, for example, due to public order situations and environmental issues. “Apart from this situation, all contracts are being affected by the increase in the tax burden and for the announcements made about changes in energy, environmental and labor regulations,” added Vargas Lleras.
Another observation that he made has to do with the fact that there is “uncertainty” regarding the development of unconventional deposits and the implementation of the Escazú Agreement.
Finally, another objection from the former vice president was towards the idea of the government of President Petro of having a vertical integration of the natural gas industrysomething that was denied in the National Development Plan that was discussed in Congress.
“However, Minister Vélez insists on the rejected initiative to concentrate the absolute power of the industry in Ecopetrol, thereby anticipating the nationalization of public services. It is clear that vertical integration generates risks in the competition when the same agent has the monopoly of all the links in the value chain, to the detriment of the consumer and the user”, concluded Germán Vargas Lleras.
And he added that signals are needed to energize the sector and its investors through clear regulations for the country, in which new sources of financing come to fruition that lead to guaranteeing an energy agenda for the coming years.
Writing THE TIME
