[News] This is the Venezuelan deal to export gas to Colombia

[Akrapovic]

Venezuelan journalists revealed how in a race against time and in the face of Gustavo Petro's triumph for the presidency, businessmen acquired the company that would be favored by PDVSA and Tareck El Aissami to export Venezuelan gas.

 

 

At the end of November 2022, Colombia woke up with the news that, contrary to what was expected, Venezuela had authorized a private company to export natural gas to Colombia for the first time in history. This is Prodata Energy, a company that operates in Caracas, which received authorization to make shipments through an inactive 224-kilometer gas pipeline that goes from the western region of that country to the northeast of Colombia.

Gustavo Petro and Nicolás Maduro after signing the joint declaration.
This is the private Venezuelan company that would have been authorized to export natural gas to Colombia, according to Bloomberg
According to an agreement that was signed in July and disclosed by Bloomberg, Prodata will deliver 25 million cubic feet of gas per day through Energy Transitions SAS ESP, a Colombian distributor.

Natural gas can be key in the energy transition.
Prodata will deliver 25 million cubic feet of gas per day through Energy Transitions SAS ESP, a Colombian distributor. - Photo: Getty Images/iStockphoto
This left many investors cold, since from the beginning it was said that any operation of this type would only be with Ecopetrol or Transportadora de Gas Internacional (TGI). Even the Colombian ambassador in Caracas, Armando Benedetti, came out to deny that Prodata Energy was going to receive these contracts, clarifying that everything would be handled through the state oil company and leaving out the possibility of this business falling into private hands. .

The latest data from the gas sector and that were revealed by the ANH, indicate that the average production of commercialized gas was 1,087.29 million cubic feet per day (mcfd) in August 2022, which represented a decrease of 2.97 % compared to the previous month, when it reached 1,120.61 mcfd. This decrease occurred due to the drop in the average production of the Cupiagua Liria field and due to electrical failures in the Clarinete field.

Oil in Venezuela
Prodata Energy will keep this business and it has also been developing for several months, even since President Gustavo Petro was in the campaign. - Photo: Getty Images/iStockphoto
Although the controversy calmed down at the time, a new report by journalist Roberto Deniz, published on the armando.info portal, revives the issue and ensures that Prodata Energy will keep this business and that it has also been developing for several months , even since President Gustavo Petro was in the campaign, since it is aligned with his interests to appear as a global leader in clean energy and in the abolition of the use of fossil fuels, in order to care for the environment.

“The political rapprochement between Caracas and Bogotá reactivates the gas pipeline that connects both nations. But his journey of 224 kilometers in a straight line can be summed up in a loop that now benefits the businesses of Bernardo Arosio Hobaica and Jorge Jara Salas. In a race against time and against the electoral calendar that led Gustavo Petro to the presidency, both businessmen rushed to acquire the company that would be favored by PDVSA and Tareck El Aissami to export Venezuelan gas, while establishing corporate relations with the company that is going to receive it to distribute it in Colombia”, says this report.

Timeline of how the Prodata Energy business was completed.
Timeline of how the Prodata Energy business was completed. - Photo: Image taken from Armando.info
This article, written by Venezuelan journalists, shows how the aforementioned businessmen waged a race against time in which, for example, Production Data Acquisition Wire Line, an oil service provider founded in 1971, was acquired and renamed in Zulia state, in order to be able to offer its services to Petróleos de Venezuela (PDVSA) and benefit from the contract for the export of gas to Colombia.

The criticisms against the Minister of Mines and Energy, Irene Vélez, do not stop, who will now have to demonstrate why there are so many inaccuracies on a crucial issue.
Will Colombia import gas from Venezuela? Controversial contract uncovered in the midst of the debate to the Minister of Mines and Energy
“The documents obtained for this report not only prove that Arosio and Jara became the new owners of Prodata Energy, almost simultaneously with the rise of Gustavo Petro as president of Colombia and the announced reestablishment of diplomatic relations with the Chavista regime. They also reveal that the same businessmen have a presence in their counterpart in the Colombian side of the business, since they also have corporate ties with Energy Transitions, the Colombian company that will distribute Venezuelan natural gas in Colombia," they added.

 

link: https://www.semana.com/economia/macroeconomia/articulo/asi-es-el-negociazo-de-venezuela-para-exportar-gas-a-colombia/202337/