PDVSA’s Proposal for Colombia to Import Venezuelan Gas in 2024

Colombian state oil company Ecopetrol said Tuesday it is considering a proposal from Venezuelan counterpart PDVSA to import gas from Venezuela to Colombia next year.

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The company said in a statement that it is "analyzing the alternatives presented by PDVSA during the Colombian government's recent visit to the neighboring country, which included bilateral project options, aimed, among others, at supplying natural gas to Colombia as of December 2024."

Colombian President Gustavo Petro, on a visit to Venezuela last week, announced that Ecopetrol is "very likely to become a partner of PDVSA in the exploitation of oil and gas fields in Venezuela."

According to Ecopetrol's board of directors, the Colombian company "has a contract signed with PDVSA since 2007, in force until December 31, 2027, for the purchase and sale and transportation of gas through the Antonio Ricaurte binational gas pipeline."

The tweet reads, "Ecopetrol reports on eventual hydrocarbon transactions with PDVSA."

The Colombian company asked the U.S. Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) in November last year for an authorization to carry out negotiations with PDVSA in hydrocarbons matters.

"OFAC, on October 18, 2023, through general license 44, announced the lifting of restrictions for six months so that transactions related to the production, extraction, sale and export of oil or gas from Venezuela, as well as the supply of related goods and services can be carried out," Ecopetrol said in its statement.

According to the company, in October and November it imported through the Cartagena de Indias regasification terminal an average of "204 million cubic feet per day (GBTUD), equivalent to 17 percent of the national demand, at a cost per demand close to $20 per GBTUD." 

Ecopetrol will assess "the different alternatives to ensure the availability of gas in the required quantities and times, within the legal framework and existing limitations, in order to guarantee energy security in a timely and cost-efficient manner for the benefit of the sector and the country," the company said.