Within the framework of the Latin America & Caribbean Gas Conference (LGC), held on November 26, the panel “Gas for recovery and growth in Latin America and the Caribbean” was held.

Some of the key topics that were discussed were: Lessons learned this year and what energies are governments considering more seriously for the next few years; What do the energy investment forecasts point to? How these post-covid expectations have changed?; The impact of COVID-19 on gas development in the Region and around the world; Where have the most innovative responses been seen in 2020?, among others.

The panel was made up of Luis Bertran, IGU General Secretary; Alfonso Blanco, Executive Secretary of Olade; Ariel Yépez, Chief of the IDB Energy Division; Keisuke Sadamori, Director of Energy Markets and Security at IEA, and Miguel Moyano, Executive Secretary of ARPEL. The moderation was in charge of Alejandro Iglesias Boulton, Partner of Ernst & Young.

In a scenario of abundance of gas in the Region, of already existing infrastructure and of complementarity of supply and demand between different countries, the question arises about the integration potential of gas in Latin America and the Caribbean, taking energy security into account, efficiency and optimization of resources.

Moyano stressed that this is a highly relevant issue and that although the Region has had many gas integration initiatives in the last 30 years, and some success stories such as Bolivia-Argentina or Bolivia-Brazil, “the gas integration has been a frustrating experience many times”.

He added that there are currently pipeline connections between Bolivia, Argentina, Brazil, Chile and Uruguay, between Colombia and Venezuela and between the United States and Mexico, “however, and despite all the infrastructure built, most have had or have very low levels of utilization”.

Meanwhile, he said that there are evident complementarities in the Region, with resource rich countries such as Bolivia or Argentina and others with unsatisfied demands such as Brazil, Chile or Uruguay.

For their part, Yépez from BID and Blanco de Olade agreed with ARPEL's vision regarding the low utilization of infrastructure, at the same time that they mentioned the integrity of gas and electricity networks and how electricity integration, for example, served to leverage projects in Central America.

Regarding the benefits of energy integration, Moyano pointed out that a more integrated market implies greater possibilities for the commercialization of natural gas, and that today, integration should not be thought of only as physical integration through gas pipelines, since development of LNG, both on a large and small scale, opens up new opportunities for connection between markets.

"ARPEL and its member companies seek to innovate, invest and generate business opportunities, therefore, they are willing to accompany integration initiatives since they are precisely going in that direction," he said.

"We believe that greater inter-institutional coordination is necessary in which all organizations with a regional scope must dialogue to close the gaps that hinder the possibilities of greater energy integration", concluded Moyano.