Colombia to resume Venezuelan gas imports this year - Ecopetrol CEO

Colombian state-run oil company Ecopetrol is aiming to resume gas imports from Venezuela this year as it moves to avert a looming shortage of the fossil fuel, CEO Ricardo Roa said on Friday. 

Roa said falling domestic reserves and an escalating El Niño-related drought had heightened the need for Colombia to reactivate a 224km pipeline that connects Venezuelan gas fields with an existing pipeline in the northeast.

"It [the pipeline] has existed since 2007 but has practically been abandoned," Roa said at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. 

He confirmed that a bilateral contract with Venezuela was still in force, adding that work to refurbish the pipeline was due to be completed by December. 

The so-called Antonio Ricaurte duct has been out of service for around a decade following a breakdown in political relations between Caracas and Bogotá.

But diplomatic ties have been restored since Colombian President Gustavo Petro took office in August 2022. 

An October decision by the US to temporarily lift some sanctions against Venezuela – including oil and gas exports from the country – has facilitated a gas cooperation agreement, experts say. 

Venezuela has the world's eighth largest accumulation of proven gas reserves with 197Tf3 (trillion cubic feet). 

In November, Roa warned that Colombia faced a natural gas deficit of 31BBTU/d (billion British thermal units per day) this year in a medium demand scenario. The shortfall is expected to rise to 131BBTU/d in 2025 and 150-200BBTU/d in 2026, he said.