The energy policy in Colombia It has been one of the key issues for the national government and the private sector, especially considering that since the administration of the President Gustavo Petro There has been an insistence on advancing the country’s energy transition.
However, this is based on several precepts, such as openness to private investment, specialized institutions and independent technical regulation, he explained. Tomás González, director of the National Center for Energy Studies (Cree)during the seminar ‘Two years of energy policy. How are we doing and what is missing?’, organized by the organization that he directs together with the Anif Center for Economic Studies.
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“If one thinks about the objectives of energy policy, it is easier to know whether things are being done well or badly. (…) Perhaps the most central is to guarantee security of supply, which is to guarantee the continuous availability of sufficient energy to meet demand.“, he mentioned.
Gas
He also spoke about other objectives of the country’s energy policy, such as environmental impact (minimize the impact of direct projects and emissions), the fuel efficiency (use the “better” amount of energy possible to perform tasks that the economy must do), the competitiveness (have rates that allow productive development in the sector), the taxation (maximize the positive impact of energy on public finances, both in terms of revenue collection and subsidies) and the energy poverty (the role of energy in poverty reduction).
“The discussions that we see in the energy sector have to do with the different weights that people give to these objectives. (…) That is what marks these discussions, which are sometimes so difficult, even more so when there are tensions in the objectives. If, for example, you want to meet the emissions target, you move away from fossil fuel production too quickly, you may have fiscal problems that put this objective under pressure and, in addition, it may be more difficult to resolve the issues of energy poverty.“, he added.
What happened to the gas?
Regarding the situation of lack of natural gas reserves that the country would have for the next few yearsthere are strong expectations regarding what the exploitation of this offshore resource can contribute from 2027 to 2030, according to data provided by Ecopetrol.
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However, speaking of the insufficiency of reserves to cover up to a third of the demand for this resource in the country, Tomás González He said that the country went from having 14 years of reserves in 2010 to having only 6.1 years, that is, a drop of 55%..
“Consumption has remained relatively constant, while reserves have been falling. We have not been able to control reserves and convert reserves at the speed we would require and that is the main reason we are having problems.“, he clarified.
Natural gas
Government factors
Gonzalez says that investors have had very positive signals.ambivalent“Regarding the future of gas reserves, this is explained, according to him, by different signals that the National government.
(Can read: Ecopetrol confirms from which countries it would import gas to address the deficit).
“One sees the graphs of the reserves and one remembers the reserves report that the previous Minister of Mines and Energy (Irene Vélez) published saying that we had gas until 2040. One also remembers the minister saying that exploration is no longer possible and one remembers José Antonio Ocampo saying that it is the Ministry of Finance that should pay the bills and that is where a lot of money comes from.“, said.
And I add: “Although this Government did not cause this problem, because it is a problem that has been around for a long time, there has been an attitude of ambivalence that has not helped to achieve the level of activity that there should be.“.
Natural gas
Regarding import infrastructure, the expert places special emphasis on the problematic bidding of the Pacific regasification plant for the importation of this resource into the country and which has been declared void on two occasions.
“Why has it been declared void? Because investors say that the construction risks are so high that if the distribution is like that, there is no way to finance it and no one wants to take on those risks.“, said.
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