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The Minister of Mines and Energy Tomás González said the government has agreed to link the natural gas price for the Caribbean coast to the WTI crude oil price index and to start infrastructure work to connect the region. Meanwhile the Colombian Petroleum Association (ACP) blasted the pricing modifications as a change of the rules, and questioned what would happen when WTI rises again.

As part of its deal with business sectors of the Caribbean coast, the Ministry of Mines and Energy (MinMinas) is moving forward with plans to hold a tender to build a gas pipeline that will connect the Atlantic coast.

The Colombian country manager  of Gas Natural Fenosa, González Santos, said that the supply of natural gas is assured and the matter is “not so complicated”, but the country must be ready to import gas when the hydro-electric grid is short on water.

The director of the Energy and Gas Regulation Commission (CREG) Jorge Pinto Nolla defended the regulatory structure around the natural gas industry in an interview, and said that consumers will not suffer price hikes in their energy bill, nor will the industry be left without the essential fuel.

The Minister of Mines and Energy Tomas González and business representatives grouped under the National Business Owners Association (ANDI) in the Caribbean coast have agreed to review the formula and increase in natural gas rates that had been planned for November 30, 2015. It is not the first time that MinMinas has balked on price adjustments due to political outcry.

GasThe conflict over natural gas prices on the Caribbean coast took a new turn when Senator Jose Name said he would lead a charge among Caribbean congressional leaders to vote against an eventual peace accord if the government does not ‘resolve’ gas rate hikes.

The former Vice-Minister and of Energy and former president of the National Hydrocarbons Agency (ANH) Orlando Cabrales has spent less time in public eye since leaving his post last year, but recently penned a critical article on the factors that have led Colombia to a shortage of natural gas.

The arrival of El Niño has added a whole new dynamic to an ongoing debate raging along the Caribbean coast over the price of natural gas, as questions on the long term rates and short term supply alike fill the press.

We have been tracking the debate and discussion on Colombia’s gas supply which is tight now and will likely follow with a deficit in supply in 2016. We noticed yet another entity that has confirms that the cost of gas is on the rise: Colombia’s statistical agency DANE.

Canacol Energy (TSX:CNE) reported its third quarter 2015 results, which showed a sequential increase in production and a fall in costs, but gas production fell sequentially although up year-over-year.