Promigas Pipeline Network

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The Promigas Pipeline Network, also known as the Ballena-Cartagena-Jobo Pipeline​ or the Gasoducto de la Costa Atlántica, is an operating gas pipeline in Colombia.

Location

The pipeline's main branch starts in Ballena, La Guajira department and runs west along the Caribbean coast to Barranquilla and Cartagena, passing through compressor stations at Palomino, La Arenosa (Barranquilla), Caracolí, and Paiva. A second branch runs north to Cartagena from the Jobo gas fields of Córdoba department and the La Creciente gas fields of Sucre department, passing through the Sahagún, Majaguas and Filadelfia stations. The two branches meet at the La Heroica station in Mamonal, just south of Cartagena.

Main Line

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Phase 1 Expansion

The Phase 1 expansion consists of a new section of pipeline running from Jobo to Majaguas.

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Phase 2 Expansion

The Phase 2 expansion consists of two new sections of pipeline: a 52-kilometer section running from Mamonal to Paiva, and an 83-kilometer section running from Paiva to Caracolí.

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Project Details

Main Line

• Operator: Promigas
• Owner: Promigas
• Parent company: Promigas
• Capacity: 851 MMcfd
• Length: 1222.50 km
• Diameter: 20 inches (Ballena to Barranquilla); 12 inches (Barranquilla to Cartagena/Mamonal), 10 inches (Cartagena/Mamonal to Jobo)
• Status: Operating
• Start Year: 1977
• Financing:

Phase 1 Expansion

• Owner: Promigas
• Parent company: Promigas
• Capacity: 100 MMcfd
• Length: 85 km
• Diameter: 20 inches
• Status: Operating
• Start Year: 2019

Phase 2 Expansion

• Owner: Promigas
• Parent company: Promigas
• Capacity: 100 MMcfd
• Length: 135 km
• Diameter: 20 and 24 inches
• Status: Operating
• Start Year: 2020

Background

The Promigas Pipeline Network, also known as the Ballena-Cartagena-Jobo Pipeline​ or the Gasoducto de la Costa Atlántica, is an operating gas pipeline in Colombia. The pipeline's main branch starts in Ballena, La Guajira department and runs west along the Caribbean coast to Barranquilla and Cartagena, passing through compressor stations at Palomino, La Arenosa (Barranquilla), Caracolí, and Paiva. A second branch runs north to Cartagena from the Jobo gas fields of Córdoba department and the La Creciente gas fields of Sucre department, passing through the Sahagún, Majaguas and Filadelfia stations. The two branches meet at the La Heroica station in Mamonal, just south of Cartagena.

The Promigas Pipeline Network transports natural gas from the Ballena gas fields of La Guajira department, the Jobo gas fields of Córdoba department, and the La Creciente gas fields of Sucre department to communities along Colombia's Caribbean coast including Cartagena and Barranquilla.

The pipeline's first 10-inch section between Jobo and Cartagena was built in 1964 by San Andrés Development Company, a subsidiary of Exxon. In 1974, a new association, Promigas (Promotora de la Interconexión de los Gasoductos de la Costa Atlántica Limitada), was formed to facilitate transport of natural gas along the Caribbean coast from the newly discovered gas fields at Ballena. On August 12, 1977 Promigas inaugurated the new Ballena-Barranquilla-Cartagena pipeline, which connected with the Jobo-Cartagena pipeline in Mamonal, just south of Cartagena.

In May 2021, the Promigas Pipeline Network saw an uptick in industrial gas demand as the economy continued its COVID-19 recovery.

Phase 1 & Phase 2 Expansion Project

In November 2016, Promigas announced that it would expand the capacity of its pipeline network by 100 MMcfd through the addition of compressor stations and three sections of new pipeline — an initiative known as the Proyecto 100 MPCD in some company reports. In 2018, Promigas obtained the necessary licenses and environmental permits and laid the first section of pipeline. In July 2019, Promigas announced completion of the expansion's first phase, with commissioning of the 85-kilometer, 20-inch Jobo-Majaguas pipeline and the new Filadelfia compressor station.

Development of the expansion's second phase, which involved the installation of 52 kilometers of 20- and 24-inch pipeline between Mamonal and Paiva and a new 20-inch, 83-kilometer pipeline between Paiva and Caracolí, was interrupted in March 2020 by the coronavirus pandemic, but work resumed in late April 2020 and reportedly entered its final stages in the following months. Promigas announced in its 2020 annual report that the Paiva-Caracolí segment and the new Paiva compressor station began commercial operations in 2020, bringing the expansion project to completion. In its 2021 annual report, Promigas confirmed that the 100 MMcfd expansion had raised the pipeline system's total capacity to 951 million cubic feet per day.

Associated Pipelines and Companies

The Promigas Group controls several affiliated companies that operate gas pipelines in Colombia, which connect to the national gas transportation system (SNT). These companies and their respective pipelines include:

• Promioriente (335 km): This pipeline system connects the main TGI network to the eastern region of the country, running from Barrancabermeja to Gibraltar.
• Transmetano (190 km): This system links the TGI network to Medellín and its surrounding areas, running from Sebastopol to Rionegro.
• Transoccidente (10.8 km): A smaller pipeline that connects the TGI Mariquita–Cali branch to the Cali metropolitan area.

Capacity Expansion Plans: 2020

A January 2020 report from Colombia's energy planning agency UPME calls for several capacity expansions to the TGI and Promigas Pipeline Networks, including:

• Enhancement of infrastructure on the Yumbo - Vasconia/Mariquita section of the TGI pipeline to accommodate bidirectional flow of 250 MMcfd; this expansion was to be completed by January 2024, in anticipation of the commissioning of the new Buenaventura-Yumbo Gas Pipeline, which will bring in imported natural gas from Colombia's Pacific coast to Yumbo, just north of Cali. New reports indicate that the pipeline is to be completed before 2029.
• Enhancement of infrastructure on the Ballena - Barranabermeja section of the TGI pipeline to accommodate bidirectional flow of 100 MMcfd, and construction of a new 170-MMcfd bidirectional connector linking the Ballena - Barrancabermeja segment of the TGI pipeline with the Ballena-Barranquilla segment of the Promigas Pipeline Network, to be completed by January 2021. The connection between the Promigas and TGI networks in Ballena was completed in 2023.
• Enhancement of infrastructure on the Mariquita - Gualanday section of the TGI pipeline to accommodate flow of 20 MMcfd by March 2022. As of 2025, this expansion is under construction (80% complete).

UPME's Technical Study for the Natural Gas Supply Plan 2023 - 2038

Between 2024 and 2025, UPME released a series of documents in support of the Technical Study for the Natural Gas Supply Plan 2023–2038 (ETPAGN 2023–2038). In these documents, the agency outlined key gas infrastructure required to meet Colombia’s fossil gas needs through 2038. This infrastructure includes, among other elements, new gas pipelines, LNG import facilities in both the Caribbean and Pacific regions, and capacity expansions for existing pipeline systems. Some of the projects highlighted in the report include capacity expansions and bidirectionality upgrades associated with the Promigas network:

• Barranquilla - Ballena bidirectionality (continued from 2020, to be completed in 2027)
• Cartagena - Sincelejo bidirectionality
• Sincelejo - Jobo bidirectionality
• La Creciente - Sincelejo bidirectionality