Venezuela targets March to reopen Colombia gas link, eyes exports via Cardon IV

What Venezuela announced

Caracas says it will wrap repairs by March on a key cross-border pipeline section with Colombia, a move it says could help its neighbor cope with shrinking reserves. The line spans 224 kilometers from Venezuela into Colombia, can move up to 450 million cubic feet per day, and has sat unused since 2015.

On Friday, Héctor Obregón, the head of Petróleos de Venezuela SA, said that after the five-kilometer segment is repaired, supply could be sourced from Cardon IV in western Venezuela. He did not say when deliveries would actually begin.

Cardon IV and the capacity step-up

According to Obregón, a deal closed in the first quarter raised Cardon IV's targeted production - the field is run by Spain's Repsol and Italy's Eni SpA - to 645 million cubic feet per day, up from 580 million cubic feet per day. As he put it, "This incremental volume will consist of methane gas intended for export, we envision this gas going to Colombia."

The comments landed the same day Ecopetrol's chief executive said the Colombian state oil company is in talks on a 10-year gas supply deal with Venezuela at "very competitive" pricing.

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Eastern Venezuela repairs and Trinidad tie-ups

PDVSA is also teaming with international firms in the east of the country to raise gas output and enable exports. In Monagas state, Shell is undertaking work to fix the Amana gas compression plant center so it can meet industrial needs and strengthen backup for the power system.

With Trinidad and Tobago, two projects are moving forward. The Loran field, partnered with Shell Plc, BP Plc, Qatar's UCC Oil and Gas Holding LLC, and XRG, holds 9 trillion cubic feet and is targeted to start producing in 2029, Obregón said. The Dragon field is a second project with Shell.

Separately, a partnership that includes UCC covers the Furrial fields, a major source of light crude and natural gas. "We are partnering with this Qatari entity, which will make a significant investment, allowing us to promptly restore the field's infrastructure," Obregón said.

Why it matters for your portfolio

If the pipeline work stays on schedule and Cardon IV hits its higher output, cross-border gas could start flowing again, and Colombia may line up decade-long supply. That would put fresh volumes behind operators tied to Cardon IV, the binational pipeline, and the Loran, Dragon, and Furrial developments, with knock-on effects for regional power and industrial demand.

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