Colombia’s Shrinking Gas Reserves Intensify Push Toward Imports
(Bloomberg) -- Colombia’s natural gas reserves fell to the lowest since at least 2007, putting pressure on the Andean nation to add new findings and increase imports to address a growing shortage.
Natural gas reserves dropped for a third consecutive year to the equivalent of 7.1 years of output at the end of last year, that’s down from 7.2 years in 2023, according to the National Hydrocarbons Agency. The Andean nation had 2.035 billion barrels of proven crude reserves, the equivalent of 7.2 years of output, up from 7.1 years of production in the previous assessment.
President Gustavo Petro’s administration has held firm on a freeze on new fossil fuel exploration permits, which has meant Colombia has had to focus on drilling projects greenlit before Petro took office in 2022.
New wells in Caribbean waters that will boost domestic supply are expected to begin producing gas as early as 2029. In the interim, state-run driller Ecopetrol SA and its private-sector partners are shifting gears—ramping up infrastructure to import liquefied natural gas beginning next year.
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