Energy and commodity trader Vitol is expected to supply Colombia’s new LNG import terminal on its northern Caribbean coast, Bloomberg reported on December 4, citing the project’s developer.

The world’s biggest commodity trader is expected to supply the LNG terminal for five years beginning in 2027.

State-run energy firm Ecopetrol is in the midst of building a regasification terminal at its Coveñas maritime facility in Sucre department, which is being constructed with a price tag of $100mn. The project requires existing offshore crude infrastructure to be adapted for LNG operations.

The terminal is expected to begin receiving cargoes in the first quarter of 2027, with an initial capacity of 110mn cubic feet (3.11mn cubic metres) per day.

Expansion of the terminal could raise the import capacity to 400mn cubic feet (11.33mn cubic metres) per day with the conversion of the central oil pipeline to gas transport, which would connect the Caribbean and interior systems.

Dealing with declining domestic gas reserves, Colombia is turning to LNG imports and is pushing to accelerate buildout of import capacity.

Colombia had been gas self-sufficient for 45 years until December 2024. In 2025 gas supply deficits have been encountered equivalent to 7.6% of national demand.

Ecopetrol’s subsidiary Hocol is also partnering with domestic firm Transportadora de Gas Internacional (TGI) to build another LNG import terminal in Colombia’s La Guarjira department in the country’s northeast.

The facility is also expected to begin operations in 2027 with a construction cost of $150mn. The floating terminal will be capable of importing 300mn cubic feet (8.5mn cubic metres) per day.

Currently, Colombia is relying on only one LNG import terminal located at the SPEC terminal in Cartagena. The facility, which began operations in 2016, has an import capacity of 400mn cubic feet (11.33mn cubic metres) per day.