Trans-Caribbean pipeline

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This article or section contains information about a planned or proposed pipeline.
It may contain information of a speculative nature and the content may change as the construction and/or completion of the pipeline approaches, and more information becomes available.

The Trans-Caribbean gas pipeline (also known as Antonio Ricaurte Gas Pipeline) is a natural gas pipeline between Venezuela and Colombia with extension to Panama and probably to Nicaragua. The construction was started on 8 July 2006 with presence of presidents Hugo Chávez of Venezuela, Álvaro Uribe of Colombia and Martín Torrijos of Panama. The pipeline will pump gas from Colombia to Venezuela and, after 7 years, from Venezuela to Colombia.^[1]

The construction of the first stage will take 2 years and it will cost more than US$ 200 million. The first stage of the pipeline is 224.4 kilometers long and runs from Maracaibo in the state of Zulia in Venezuela to Puerto Ballena gas fields in La Guajira, Colombia. The first stage would be operational by mid-2007, enabling Venezuela to import 150 million cubic feet (4,200,000 m³) of gas daily.^[2] The costs of the pipeline are expected to be US$ 335 million.^[3]