Colombia's imports of LPG have hit records this year as state-controlled oil company Ecopetrol has increased its own LPG consumption for industrial processes, according LPG association Agremgas.
Colombia had been expected to import an average of 24,000 t/month of LPG in 2026, but it already exceeded that level in January, July and August of this year alone, Sara Vélez, executive director of Agremgas told Argus in an interview on 21 November.
"The drop in (Ecopetrol supply of LPG) is mainly due to the substitution that Ecopetrol is making in its internal processes, ceasing to use natural gas for the market and starting to use LPG," Velez told Argus.
She echoed remarks made by Ecopetrol president Ricardo Roa in October, when he said LPG and liquids replaced natural gas in some operations to address gas shortages during maintenance at the country's only regasification unit, SPEC, which lasted from 10-15 October this year.
The country imported an average of 21,980t/month of LPG year-to-date through August, more than double the 10,285 t/month imported during the same eight-month in 2024, Velez said, and up sharply from 3,890 t/month in 2023 and 2,200 t/month in 2022.
Ecopetrol has not disclosed its overall LPG consumption, but reduced supply to the domestic market also reflects continued LPG use as a diluent and in gasoline blending, along with declining gas output at major fields.
Ecopetrol offered 288,434 t of LPG to the market in January–August — an average of 36,054 t/month and down from 42,264 t/month for that time a year earlier.
Of the 2025 total through August, 244,570 t came from Ecopetrol's domestic fields, including Cupiagua and Cusiana, which is down by 15.5pc from last year.
Canada-based Frontera Energy's subsidiary Puerto Bahia and Chilean firm Gasco have fast-tracked the initial phase of their new LPG port to start in the first half of 2026, compared with the initial 2027 timeline, Frontera said on 13 November, "helping address supply constraints in Colombia's domestic LPG market."
