Colombian oil union warns that crude oil reserves would only reach until 2030

The oil union in Colombia warned this Thursday that the crude oil reserves they stagnated in the last year and would only be enough to supply the country until 2030, a much shorter time than the government had estimated, which is committed to a energy transition.

Proven oil reserves went from 2,039 million barrels in 2021 to 2,074 in 2022, an amount that would only be enough to satisfy the local demand forOver the next 7.5 years and not around 15 as the executive had estimated, according to data from the state National Hydrocarbons Agency (ANH).

“What we all expected was a greater increase in reserves and the truth has been showing that this is not the case”said the president of the Colombian Association of Oil and Gas (ACP), Francisco Lloreda, in an interview with Blu Radio.

The situation “It must wake up and raise all alerts in the national government and in the citizenry”warned the union leader.

At the beginning of this year, President Gustavo Petro assured that the reserves were sufficient “for internal consumption in a period between 2037 and 2042″.

ANDColombia’s first left-wing government says it will not sign more oil exploration contracts and will instead favor renewable sources such as solar and wind energy. The ACP warns that this decision could jeopardize the country’s energy self-sufficiency.

“Gradually production will begin to fall and this ends up meaning importing oil and importing gas”warned Lloreda. Those imports would come mainly from Venezuela and could cost the country “three more times” of what local production is worth.

Oil is also one of the main export products of the fourth Latin American economy.

Sales of crude oil, its derivatives and coal represented more than 50% of the country’s exports in March, According to the last report of the National Administrative Department of Statistics (DANE).

The entity indicated that in that month 14.6 million barrels of oil were exported, 15% less compared to the same month of the previous year.

The Colombian Chamber of Oil Gas and Energy noted in an April report that Colombia will produce 2.5% less oil this year than in 2022due to “the public order and public policy situations in the country”.

Source: AFP