Roadblocks cut off 40pc of Colombia LPG market

Roadblocks across Colombia have cut off about 40pc of the LPG market, equivalent to 800 t/d, the latest impact of nationwide unrest that erupted in late April.

Violent anti-government protests and looting have dragged on even after President Ivan Duque this week withdrew a controversial tax reform bill that first ignited the demonstrations on 28 April. The bill would have generated sorely needed revenue from a carbon tax as well as a broader levy on income, basic services and LPG, which is widely used for cooking, sparking a popular backlash.

More than two dozen people have died and hundreds have been injured in the clashes.

LPG chamber Gasnova, which represents 76pc of LPG distribution in Colombia, said its member companies usually distribute 2,000 t/d of LPG, but they are only distributing 1,200 t/d. Gasnova represents distributors Norgas, Montagas, Empresas Gasco, Chilco, Supergas de Nariño and Rayogas.

Bogota has LPG stocks equivalent to three days of demand. Gasnova said access to Colombian state-controlled Ecopetrol's Cartagena refinery as well as distribution companies near Cartagena is thwarted by a major roadblock near Mamonal, where the refinery is located. The refinery and LPG plants in Mamonal supply the Colombian Caribbean provinces and departments in central Colombia.

In the central department of Cundinamarca, tanker trucks have been able to reach distributors, leading to shortages in the municipalities of Útica, Sopó, Zipaquirá, Mosquera, Facatativá and Gachancipá, among others.

Another LPG chamber, Agremgas, said tanker trucks have been able to load LPG at Ecopetrol's 15,000 t/month Cusiana plant thanks to negotiations that allowed transit between the cities of Aguazul and Sogamoso, and Aguazul and Villavicencio, Agremgas executive director Luis Felipe Gomez told Argus. But some of their distributors have run out of LPG, while others are reluctant to tap their inventories on fears of sabotage or vandalism. Agremgas represents 17 local distributors.

In one ominous indication of the local risks, in the town of Gachancipá in central Colombia protestors torched an LPG truck that was loaded with 140 empty cylinders.

"LPG is essential for millions of homes. Our call is to open the way to safe supply through the roads of Colombia," said mines and energy minister Diego Mesa, who has helped to coordinate emergency fuel supplies to affected areas.

Cali on its own

In Colombia, 12mn people — about a quarter of the population -- rely on LPG mostly in the form of propane canisters used for cooking.

Especially affected are the southern departments of Valle del Cauca, Nariño and Cauca. Valle del Cauca's hard-hit capital Cali is experiencing shortages of motor fuel, food and medical oxygen to cope with the raging Covid-19 pandemic. The department is virtually isolated because of 25 blockades.

Fuel shortages in the Pacific port city of Buenaventura is forcing some residents to resort to firewood for cooking.

The government has coordinated waterborne shipments of motor fuel to Nariño from Cartagena to the Pacific port of Tumaco.

The embattled Duque administration blames criminal groups and drugs traffickers for infiltrating the protests, while demonstrators say police backed by the military are using excessive force to quell unrest.

By Diana Delgado