The country would be facing a difficulty in the supply of jet fuel after a technical failure in the Cartagena refinery that supplies the country with 35.12% of the necessary demand for air operations, that is, 13,000 barrels per day. Due to this situation, the Ministry of Mines and Energy, Transport and other government entities have worked hand in hand with the private sector to address the contingency, which, in his words, is already ‘under control’.
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As of today, according to data from Ecopetrol, The country has at least 163,000 barrels to meet the demand for the five more days needed for the arrival of the additional 100,000 which will be imported between August 31 or September 2 to end this difficulty in the sector.
“100,000 barrels will be supplied to cover the inventories depleted by the contingency and to cover the increase in demand that we will have in the coming months (…) with this we would recover from a deficit caused by the emergency, which caused us to reduce availability from 99% to 95%. We will recover this percentage again starting September 1st,” said Ricardo Roa, president of Ecopetrol.
While this is happening, the question remains whether the current availability of fuel, that is, those 163,000 barrels for the next five days could meet the demand required by the market, because according to Roa, The normal requirement of airlines is not 32,600 barrels per day, It is 35,000 barrels a day, and today it has risen to 37,000 barrels and they expect this to rise to 41,000 by October.
Despite this, Roa gave a reassurance to the airlines by stating that the Cartagena Refinery is already in its normal operation after the contingency of last Friday, August 16, and today at noon They will deliver 5,000 additional barrels to their conventional production, to ensure 95% fuel availability. The goal is to supply 99% of existing demand.
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“The situation arose and as a result of this circumstance, Ecopetrol’s obligation to provide 100% availability to meet the demand for this fuel was reduced by 95%. In August, 96% will be available, in accordance with Ecopetrol’s obligations and commitments. To date, the wholesalers’ contracts have not been breached,” Roa explained.
However, the situation would already be ‘under control’ from the production side, the Minister of Transport, María Constanza García, assured that “One of the distributors has stated that there is a restriction on the delivery of the product. This has led the airlines to take some measures to prepare in case any airline has a problem. Today we have enough fuel available for a problem-free operation for at least five days.”
Having this difficulty with the marketer, Some airlines have made the decision not to sell tickets, In order to maintain flexibility in flights, that is, to be able to fill their fuel tank to maximum capacity to minimize refueling, for this reason, they will have to balance the weight with a few fewer passengers.
“Although there are no flight cancellations, there are some spaces to be able to make rearrangements if decisions have to be made. It is more of a preventive decision,” indicated the Minister of Transport.
He said that although there have been flight cancellations, these have been unrelated to the fuel situation and have involved issues associated with runways in both Cúcuta and Bogotá.
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The Government’s commitments
Andrés Camacho, Minister of Mines and Energy, mentioned in his speech at the meeting that the Government and the private sector have worked hand in hand to avoid impacts on airports and on price dynamics. For this reason, they have made a series of commitments that have already been in place since the weekend, to keep the situation under control.
“After a PMU for aviation fuels in the country and after meetings, we can assure that we have aviation fuel, that the country has the guarantee of supply and that we are now reviewing the supply chains and the marketing companies to verify the entire logistics line to allow it to be covered”said.
He added that they will continue to analyze the availability of fuel, will inspect the distributors, and asked the Superintendency of Industry and Commerce (SIC) to implement actions to verify market conditions and avoid further abuses.
For his part, Garcia pledged to continue to monitor the decisions that have been made jointly with the airlines.
Paula Galeano Balaguera
Portfolio Journalist
