Ecopetrol moving ahead with Venezuela gas import plans

Colombian state-run oil company Ecopetrol is pushing ahead with plans to import gas from Venezuela in an effort to avert a looming deficit of the fossil fuel, CEO Ricardo Roa said on Friday. 

Roa said the company was undertaking a technical review of a 224km binational pipeline, which has been out of service since 2015.

"The contract that is active [with Venezuelan state oil company PDVSA] allows for the possibility to import up to 200Mf3/d of gas," Roa said in a quarterly earnings call. 

"We are accompanying the inspection and reliability of the pipeline so that it can be used in the event of an emergency. It is one of four or five options that we have to meet growing demand."

Roa has affirmed that Colombia faces 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 widen to 131BBTU/d in 2025 and 150-200BBTU/d in 2026, according to Ecopetrol.

In a televised interview broadcast later on Friday, Roa said he was unconcerned by a US State Department plan to reinstate sanctions against Venezuela this year. 

"This decision considers the situation as it stands today," Roa said, referring to the temporary easing of restrictions by Washington last October. "If the sanctions are reimposed we will refrain from these transactions," he added. 

Other options to increase gas supply included an expansion of LNG import infrastructure on the Caribbean coast and a new regasification terminal in Buenaventura, on the Pacific coast, Roa said. 

The comments came as Ecopetrol reported a fourth quarter profit of US$1.07bn, down 38% from a year earlier. Roa blamed the reduction on lower international oil prices.

The Bogotá-based firm reiterated its plan to invest between 23tn and 27tn pesos, up to US$6.8bn, this year.