Colombia has designated the restoration of the Antonio Ricaurte natural gas pipeline, which links the country with Venezuela, as a project of strategic national interest. State-owned energy company Ecopetrol announced that adding the cross-border pipeline to the nation's list of Projects of National and Strategic Interest, known by the Spanish acronym PINES, is intended to expedite administrative approvals and speed up repairs.
The pipeline has been idle since 2015, and the push to revive it comes as Colombia faces mounting pressure on its energy reserves. According to Colombian financial newspaper Portafolio, the country's proven natural gas reserves fell 46% between 2021 and 2025, and imported natural gas now accounts for nearly 40% of national consumption.
At present, Colombia covers its supply deficit by importing liquefied natural gas. Transporting LNG requires cooling the gas into liquid form, shipping it on specialized vessels, and re-gasifying it at maritime terminals. Ecopetrol officials stated that importing gas directly via an overland pipeline would eliminate expensive shipping and re-gasification costs, delivering lower energy prices for consumers and businesses.
The 140-mile pipeline was inaugurated in 2007 by former Colombian President Álvaro Uribe and late Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez. It connects Venezuela's Lake Maracaibo region to the La Guajira department in northern Colombia.
For operators and planners in the region, the designation signals a policy shift toward cross-border pipeline supply as a complement to LNG imports, with the PINES status aimed at shortening the approval path for repairs to a line that has been out of service for roughly a decade.
Source: Pipeline Journal
