Exactly one month ago, Colombia’s Ministry of Mines and Energy declared scheduled natural gas rationing in response to the temporary reduction in imported gas supply capacity, caused by a technical failure in the regasification infrastructure of SPEC LNG.
This Friday, October 27, the same ministry announced that, due to “a technical condition” affecting the regasification infrastructure of SPEC LNG, Colombia’s only import, storage and regasification terminal for liquefied natural gas (LNG), located in the Bay of Cartagena de Indias, another scheduled rationing measure had been established to manage the available supply and define service priorities during the contingency.
The measure, adopted through Resolution 40585, provides for priority service to essential demand, followed by thermal power generation and industrial activities necessary for transporting crude oil destined for refining. The remaining users will be served according to the order and conditions established in the resolution.
The terminal will maintain a maximum capacity
According to the Ministry of Mines and Energy, SPEC LNG reported that corrective work is underway on one of the four regasification trains of its floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU).
During this work, the terminal will maintain a maximum regasification capacity of 400 million cubic feet per day (Mpcd). The company estimates that the work will take between seven and eight days.
It also stated that, in coordination with the National Natural Gas Operations Council (CNO Gas) and industry stakeholders, the Ministry is monitoring natural gas availability, supply and transportation conditions, and progress on the technical interventions.
This monitoring will make it possible to assess how the contingency develops and determine the actions necessary to meet the system’s requirements, the Ministry said.
The scheduled rationing will remain in effect for as long as the conditions that gave rise to the measure persist. Its termination will be officially declared by the Ministry once the conditions necessary to lift it have been verified.
For its part, Sociedad Portuaria El Cayao (SPEC LNG) reported that the work will be carried out by specialized personnel and performed under strict technical, operational, and safety protocols.
Three levels of service
The Ministry of Mines and Energy’s resolution explains that restrictions may arise when difficulties in the supply, transportation, or regasification infrastructure prevent market demand from being met continuously. In response to this situation, it established three levels of service:
- Essential demand: households and small businesses. Residential users and small businesses are among the sectors that will receive priority service, in accordance with the essential demand criteria set out in the regulations. According to official estimates, 30 million cubic feet per day of the total shortfall correspond to this consumption category.
- Non-essential users with firm supply contracts. Once essential demand has been met, the available gas will be allocated to non-essential users who have current contracts guaranteeing uninterrupted supply, in accordance with the conditions agreed upon by producers, marketers, and transporters.
The resolution specifies that the volume allocated to these consumers will depend on contractual commitments and the supply priorities established to serve end users.
- Firm natural gas export commitments. The government’s instruction is that the natural gas supply subject to prioritization “may not be contracted at a price higher than the price at which the buyer contracted with the owner of the gas that is reassigned as a result of the application of scheduled rationing.”