Ecopetrol: Ecopetrol Group starts importing gas through the Pacific Coast

Ecopetrol and Cenit, a subsidiary company of the Ecopetrol Group, launched a pilot project for the importation of small-scale liquefied natural gas destined for the Buenaventura district, with the purpose of guaranteeing a reliable gas supply alternative and providing greater autonomy in the supply of this fuel for some areas in the west of the country.

This operation allows for an alternate supply plan thanks to the logistical ease offered by a satellite regasification plant, which can be located anywhere under a safe, flexible, efficient and quickly executed scheme.

In this case, the regasification plant will be located in Buenaventura and its function is to convert the imported product that arrives in a ship at the port from a liquid to a gaseous state, to later deliver it to the local distributor and this, in turn, to the final consumers.

During the 6 months that this proof of concept lasts, 0.320 Gbtud (gas measurement unit) will be imported to meet about 60% of the current demand of the Buenaventura district. In the next few hours, the gas will be delivered to the distribution system.

In this way, it seeks to incorporate technical, logistical and operational knowledge so that the Ecopetrol Group implements new projects that benefit more users of natural gas.

“The development of this type of innovative initiatives allows us to reach more Colombians with natural gas, which is a low-emission energy source. Micro LNG gives us the option of having small volumes that in the future will allow us to serve remote communities, and ensure the growth of the market in municipalities such as Popayán, Pasto, Florencia and Tumaco, among others”, said Yeimy Báez, Vice President of Low Emission Solutions.

For his part, the president of Cenit, Héctor Manosalva, said that “with the start-up of a satellite plant for regasification of liquid natural gas in Buenaventura, we corroborate our commitment to the energy transition and, in turn, as the Ecopetrol Group, we generate impacts positive social networks in non-interconnected areas of the National Transportation System”.

The Ecopetrol Group is carrying out this initiative with Cenit, which developed a collaboration agreement with Invercolsa, through its subsidiary company Progasur,