Mitsui & Co. has been chosen to deliver Colombia's first cargo of liquefied natural gas later this year as the country prepares to place a floating import terminal into service, according to the terminal's developer.
Mitsui will send the cargo to the gas storage complex that Sociedad Portuaria El Cayao SA ESP, owned in part by Colombia gas provider Promigas, is completing off Colombia's northern coast, Jose Montes, the developer's chief executive officer, said in a telephone interview Friday. The site is scheduled to start commissioning in late September or early October and is expected to be fully operating by November, he said.
Colombia is emerging as a potential bright spot for liquefied gas producers who have been battered in the past two years by weakening demand and a ballooning global supply glut. Countries including Australia have boosted exports, and the U.S. has been sending cargoes of shale gas abroad since February. For Colombia, LNG imports represent a new supply of feedstock for gas-fired power generators that the country relies on to make up for shortfalls in hydropower resources, Montes said.