Colombia Gives Priority to TGI’s LNG Project as Gas Dwindles

The Promigas SA SPEC Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) port in Cartagena, Bolivar department, Colombia, on Thursday, Nov. 21, 2024. Promigas built the LNG terminal in 2016 with the capability of handling 450 million cubic feet of a day, and plans to add another 25 million cubic feet a day of capacity in 2025. Photographer: Carlos Parra Rios/Bloomberg Photo by Carlos Parra Rios /Bloomberg

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(Bloomberg) — Transportadora de Gas Internacional’s planned liquefied natural gas import terminal in Colombia moved closer to execution after the government added it to a list of infrastructure priorities designed to address a growing shortfall in domestic gas supply.

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The Andean nation’s push to buy more gas from other nations is triggering fierce competition to build LNG terminals. Among the contenders is the $150 million Ballena LNG project in northern La Guajira province proposed by TGI, a unit of Grupo Energía Bogota SA. 

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Colombia’s mining and energy planning unit included Ballena LNG in its priority list, known as IPAT, the energy ministry announced Thursday. The IPAT designation implies a guaranteed payment to recover investment.

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The facility now “becomes a public asset that is regulated,” according to GEB Chief Executive Officer Juan Ricardo Ortega. 

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That means that it would “be freely accessible to anyone who requires it,” Ortega said in a phone interview.  

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Ballena LNG would use a floating storage and regasification unit, or FSRU, that would connect to state-controlled oil company Ecopetrol SA’s subsea pipeline and onto TGI’s onshore network in Colombia’s interior.

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TGI, Colombia’s biggest gas pipeline operator, has already advanced a large part of the project as a private investment and will continue to work “in parallel” with both the private and public options, the company said in reply to additional questions. 

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TGI plans to take a final investment decision on the project by June 15, the company said.

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The Atlantic coast terminal, which would have regasification capacity of up to 250 million cubic feet a day, would start operating in the first quarter of 2028 or earlier, depending on progress including pending regulatory decisions and environmental approvals, the company said.   

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Colombia’s gas supply shortfall is currently close to 200 MMcfd, or around a fifth of demand, and is on track to reach 310 MMcfd next year, according to data from the nation’s commodities exchange.

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Read also: Demand for Colombia LNG Shipments Set to Surge Ahead of El Niño

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Colombia will need to continue to import LNG to meet part of its electricity generation requirements “for years to come” so more facilities will be required in order to meet the country’s demand, Ortega said.    

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