Congress insists on limited initiative to massify natural gas in the regions

For almost three years, Congress, through the Energy and Mines Commission, has delayed the massification of natural gas in the regions. Yesterday was no exception, and the proposal for all regions to pay the same for natural gas service (level rate) was limited to regulated users who do not exceed 50,000 m3 per month. The rejected technical proposal spoke of all regulated clients; that is, consumption of up to 900,000 m3/month.

The insistence of the aforementioned parliamentary commission has not considered that today a home in any region of the country pays up to two times more than a home in Lima, or that an SME in the regions pays 70% more than one in Lima, urged Felipe Cantuarias, president of the Peruvian Hydrocarbons Society (SPH). It’s important pointing that Currently Metropolitan Lima concentrates 96% of the demand for natural gas.

“It is a wrong decision because it will paralyze massification to the detriment of the regions, centralism and the LNG marketers who do not contribute for home connections win. It is discrimination against the regions that will continue to wait 20 more years for natural gas. Let’s hope that the Plenary Session corrects it,” she asserted.

Freight carriers discriminated against

Let us remember that in November of last year the initiative was approved in the Plenary, but the Executive power He observed it and suggested some modifications for its application.

One of these modifications included the transportation sector, particularly cargo transportation. Erick García Portugal, former general director of Hydrocarbons, explained that this provision would allow taps to be built (they consume 300,000 m3/month) at the national level, being inside or outside the natural gas networks. In the country there are faucets outside networks and operated before a concessionaire arrived. This entire article was withdrawn yesterday in the Energy and Mines Commission.

“Transporters would be left out and the problem with leaving transportation out is that in the regions it is the anchor demand for natural gas,” the expert warned.

Scope of approval

What was approved yesterday by the commission is activated through a subsidy mechanism because the capital is home to large consumers of the service, while at the regional level participation is very limited: just the remaining 4%, explained Luis García, general director of Hydrocarbons of Minem, during his speech in the parliamentary session.

“Lima consumes 870 million cubic feet of natural gas, while connections in the regions are only 38 million cubic feet,” he commented.

The proposal establishes that regulated users of the natural gas service through pipelines, which do not exceed 50,000 m3 per month, finance massification with their payments. García estimates a hit of S/0.30 for the bills that families pay for the service, while for businesses the increase would be up to S/1.00.

This increase is not significant, in the opinion of the head of the DGH, and will translate into “beneficial” rates for residential users in the province. As a good Christian, they would pay S/50 or S/60 for a ball of gas at S/25 or S/30 per month for hydrocarbons.

It is worth adding that this scenario will be reached as long as the resources from the Energy Social Inclusion Fund (FISE) are not sufficient.

Supply could be in charge of the State

The supply of natural gas will be in charge of a private or state company, and always under the supervisory role of Osinergmin.

Iris Cárdenas, Vice Minister of Hydrocarbons, pointed out that His portfolio seeks to ensure that the energy system supplies national demand; and therefore, its administration must be “reliable and efficient” since the diversification of the energy matrix “must be universally accessible.”