NG Energy International Corp. expects an eightfold increase in its natural gas production in Colombia after a new field begins production next year.
The Toronto-based company sees its gas production rising to 60 million cubic feet per day in the third quarter of 2024 as its Sinu-9 block comes online in the Lower Magdalena Basin, according to the director financier, Jorge Fonseca. NG Energy currently produces 7 million cubic feet per day from its Maria Conchita field in northern La Guajira province.
“This is just the beginning,” Fonseca said in a phone interview. “We have great potential in both blocks.”
Once production is fully ramped up, NG Energy will supply around 6% of the Andean nation’s natural gas demand. Fonseca said the company hopes to raise that level to 20% within three to five years as pipeline infrastructure is developed to bring the gas to market.
The company released its production forecasts on Thursday as Colombia seeks to reverse declining gas reserves, which are estimated to be at their lowest level in 7.2 years since at least 2007. The President Gustavo Petro has stopped granting new oil and gas exploration licenses as part of a promise to wean itself off. the nation off its dependence on fossil fuels.
As a result, companies are focusing their efforts on existing contracts. State-owned Ecopetrol SA, the country’s biggest natural gas producer, is looking to expand production off the Caribbean coast, its top executive said earlier this month.
According to Fonseca, NG Energy expects production at Maria Conchita to increase to 20 million cubic feet per day by early November. The Sinu-9 field is expected to produce 30 million cubic feet per day in the first quarter of 2024 and an additional 10 million cubic feet per day in the third quarter.
The company’s Toronto-listed shares rose as much as 11 per cent on Thursday. They are up 26% this year, compared with a 5% rise in the S&P/TSX composite energy sector index.
