energy
March 6, 2026
We are seeing a silent setback in the country's energy transition: Naturgas on the gas situation
Industries are migrating to other energy sources due to a gas deficit. Photo: Courtesy: Naturgas
TL;DR
- The Colombian Natural Gas Association (Naturgas) studied the impacts of losing gas self-sufficiency and migrating to fossil fuels.
- The national industry replaced about 38.6 million cubic feet per day (GBTUD) of natural gas with more polluting fuels in the last year.
- This substitution caused an increase of nearly 164,000 additional tons of CO2 equivalent per year.
- The industrial sector, which accounts for a third of national gas demand, used natural gas for decades to replace dirtier fuels like coal and fuel oil.
- Between 2025 and January 2026, industries stopped buying approximately 38 million cubic feet per day (GBTUD) of natural gas, migrating to other, currently cheaper but more environmentally impactful, energy sources.
- The substitution was distributed as follows: 50% to LPG, 23% to coal, 12% to bagasse, 10% to fuel oil, and 5% to electricity.
- Industrial emissions reached about 997,000 tons of CO2 per year, an increase of 164,000 tons compared to maintaining natural gas consumption.
- Naturgas suggests increasing the supply of natural gas, both from local and external sources, to guarantee a reliable and competitive supply for the productive sector.
- In 2025, the industrial sector was the largest consumer of natural gas (28%), followed by thermal generation (19%) and residential (19%).
- Naturgas proposes increasing natural gas supply, ensuring a reliable and competitive supply, and balancing competitive conditions among energy sources.