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The Colombian Association of Natural Gas (Naturgas) has called on the national government to intervene at the Gibraltar gas plant after two indigenous groups blockaded the plant, trapping 19 employees inside for more than a month now, or face shortages in the area.

Last week we did the top 10 oil producers so we thought we would start this week off with the top 10 gas producers and then look at the top 10 combined producers.

Canacol Energy (TSX:CNE) says that the firm has natural gas, it has clients that want to buy it, but it lacks the transport capacity to deliver it adequately, especially for new discoveries, and instead suffers from a “private monopoly”.

The Colombian government announced that natural gas production for April 2016 fell 2.51% versus March. It provided no explanation.

In a dramatic shift over just a few weeks, the rain brought back Colombia’s hydro resources, the halted Guatapé plant started working again and thermal generators slashed their natural gas purchases. Now paired with a global surplus of gas, low prices make some of Colombia’s strategic projects, especially offshore, look uncertain.

While the national and local governments continue to roll out the natural gas network, there are still many municipalities functioning with propane, which suffers from higher prices and an informal distribution network. No quick solution is in sight.

GasIn mid-October of last year, we published an article where Naturgas president, Eduardo Pizano promised an additional 130mmcfd of gas would become available in 1Q16. It might have become available but it did not translate into additional demand.

GasThe municipal utility firm of Medellín (EPM) will follow up on its CoP$80B investment on natural gas infrastructure in 2015 with another CoP$50B this year, part of its plan to develop this strategic business.

GasIn March 2016 the amount of energy supplied by thermal generators amounted to 51% of Colombia’s energy grid, while hydro accounted for 43%.

In 2012 Canacol Energy (TSX:CNE) made a shift away form crude production to natural gas after buying Shona Energy. Its CEO Charle Gamba said at the time the idea was to gain a bit of stability, and today that decision has paid off.