Colombia upping regasification ante to tackle looming gas shortage

Colombia’s state-owned oil and gas company Ecopetrol has handed out a contract to compatriot Puertos, Inversiones y Obras (PIO) to provide regasification services in the country’s Pacific Coast area.

The new infrastructure will entail receipt and storage facilities in Buenaventura and a regasification facility with a 60 million cubic feet per day (mcfd) capacity in Buga. The expected start of operations is Q2 2026.

According to Ecopetrol, the award and signing of this contract is a strategic step in diversifying the supply of natural gas before offshore projects come into operation. 

Buenaventura is the site of another planned liquefied natural gas (LNG) development–the Andes Energy Terminal (AET). Black & Veatch concluded a feasibility study for the project in May 2024.

Since Colombia is expected to experience a natural gas deficit in 2025, the country will have to import most of its gas needs, which is why regasification capacities on the Pacific Coast are seen as necessary.

As stated by Ecopetrol, this contract provides a new source of supply to meet the demand for natural gas in the interior of the country and will help deliver natural gas to more than 40 million Colombian nationals. 

Ecopetrol says it will continue to move forward with key investments to ensure the stability and expansion of the oil and gas sector. For this purpose, the firm has allocated $1.37 billion for exploration over the next three years, which it says reinforces its commitment to the country’s energy sustainability.

Late last year, the Colombian player and its partner Petrobras confirmed a giant natural gas discovery offshore Colombia, said to be the country’s “most significant gas discovery ever.”