In 1958, the oil production wells belonging to the Cicuco concession (Mompox Island) came into service.
The oil exploited in these fields was accompanied by appreciable quantities of natural gas, which allowed the Colombian Petroleum Company concessionaire to investigate the possibility of using this fuel in the city of Barranquilla.
As a result, a group of industrialists from Barranquilla verified the possibility of transporting gas from Cicuco (Bolívar) to Barranquilla through a specially designed pipeline and decided to establish Gas Natural Colombiano SA. This is how Barranquilla became the first city in the country to receive natural gas through a gas pipeline.
After twenty years of Gas Natural Colombiano SA having been exploiting the Cicuco fields with technical and financial success, they began to decline so it was necessary to search for new sources, discovering the La Guajira gas fields.
Consequently, a new company was created in 1974 called Promotora de la Interconexión de los Gasoductos de la Costa Atlántica “PROMIGAS Ltda,” as a natural gas transportation company for the Caribbean coast of Colombia. It became a public corporation in 1976.
In the following years, this organization was focused on developing residential and commercial markets (small consumers) in Barranquilla and Cartagena.
In 1983, Promigas began looking for new growth alternatives and decided to invest in other gas transportation and distribution companies. It began with similar activities in its area of influence and continued with synergistic activities, in order to finally explore international alternatives.
In 1986, it ventured into the business of compressed natural gas for vehicles, becoming a pioneer in an unregulated business with a high macroeconomic and environmental impact.
In 1990, the General Shareholders’ Meeting decided to simplify the business name, calling it Promigas S.A. In 1995, in light of the issuance of Law 142/1994, which regulated public utilities and complementary services, the General Shareholders’ Meeting reformed the bylaws. The Company moved to being identified as Promigas S.A. ESP, which remains a private company with a joint-stock corporate structure.
The sector’s expansion towards the center of the country began in the 90s in Colombia as a result of connection through gas transportation systems. This gave Promigas the opportunity to invest in natural gas transmission and distribution companies in that area. The investments in Centragas and Gases de Boyacá y Santander stand out. These were gas pipelines built, operated and maintained under the BOMT modality.
In its capacity as transporter and distributor, Promigas has been present for more than three decades in the successful process of the massification of natural gas in Colombia and has collaborated with all actors in the sector to consolidate its development, actively participating in developing the regulatory framework based on government - private company teamwork.
Through Fundación Promigas, created in 1999, they implement a voluntary management with a long-term perspective and to develop skills that allow them to build trusting relationships with families, schools and other local community actors.
Created in 2007 by Promigas as a Non-bank Financing alternative for its distributor’s users, Brilla was born to fulfill the desire of users to have access to a formal credit quota that enables their households to acquire the products they most want, and in general to improve their quality of life by granting easy repayment terms through the household natural gas bills.
EXPANSIÓN INTERNACIONAL
Based on its proven competitiveness and success, Promigas arrived in Peru in 2006 by acquiring 40 % of Cálidda, a natural gas distribution company in Lima and Callao.
In 2015, the Peruvian government granted us the distribution of natural gas in northern Peru through Quavii, which began to operate two years later.
THE ONLY LNG TERMINAL IN COLOMBIA
In December 2016, the country’s first natural gas regasification terminal, SPEC, began operations, a historical milestone for the industry. This facility assures the country’s natural gas supplies and has become the country's energy backup. In 2020, SPEC reached its highest operating figures by delivering over 13,000 million cubic feet of natural gas to the country’s main thermal power plants, as a result of which 22 % of the country’s electricity demand was fulfilled through thermal energy.
INNOVATION
Global energy trends have driven us to innovate our business models in order to develop competitive and sustainable energy service offerings. To this end, in 2018 the Center for Energy and Gas Research and Innovation (CIIEG, for the Spanish original) was launched, whose innovation efforts have focused on two fronts: moving forward in the development of innovative solutions and strengthening our innovation capabilities.
As a result, we received recognition from Colciencias and the Chamber of Commerce of Barranquilla, and we maintained our certification for Level 1 Innovation System from the Global Innovation Management Institute.
Thanks to the efforts of the in-house team, international consultants and the management team, the center has established a management model, R&D strategic focus areas, an adequate balance between short, medium and long term initiatives, and a governance model that facilitates decision-making and promotes the coordination of the capabilities and resources of the affiliates. As a result, CIIEG has a leading edge innovation management system in Latin America.
 | In 2019, the Peruvian government granted us the concession for natural gas distribution in Piura, the second most populated region in Peru.
In 2020, the leadership of Promigas in Peru was consolidated through the acquisition of 100 % of the company Gascop, currently Promigas Perú, also strengthening the gas distribution business in the north of Peru through Quavii. That same year, Brilla ventured into the Peruvian market through Quavii to provide the families connected to the natural gas services a financing alternative to enable them to acquire goods and services to improve their quality of life.
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In 2021, in order to take advantage of synergies and leverage the company’s social management results in Colombia and Peru, a new management model was established for Fundación Promigas, to enable its presence in all the areas of influence of Promigas and the companies in its portfolio.
In its over 20 years of operation, the Foundation has worked in 14 departments and 180 municipalities and localities in Colombia, 68 % of them in the Caribbean region and 48 % in other regions of the country.
Promigas is now an organization that is deeply rooted in the gas sector in Colombia and with presence in Peru. It has an investment portfolio comprised of 23 companies involved in natural gas transmission, commercialization and distribution, electricity distribution and sales, integrated solutions for industry, power generation, as well as liquefied natural gas (LNG).
Promigas is the oldest private natural gas transmission company in Latin America.
