Promigas’ annual report shows important accomplishments nationwide and internationally.  The company continued to expand its interest in operations in other Latin American countries. As a direct investor, it purchased 40% of Cálidda, a natural gas distribution company in Lima, Peru.  With respect to companies in which Promigas has controlling interest, Organización Terpel entered the market in Panama and Chile, and Gazel consolidated its operations in Peru, Mexico and Chile.

“At Promigas, we want to share the benefits of natural gas with communities in other countries to help make their lives better, as it has been done and proven in Colombia through the great efforts made in the past recent years to encourage the massive use of natural gas and its benefits,” said Antonio Celia, Promigas CEO.

Gas Natural de Lima y Callao S.A., Cálidda, a distribution company operating in five districts of Lima and Callao, reported an increase of 24% in sales compared to 2006. Actually, it has 8,137 customers: 95.6% belong to the residential sector.

Organización Terpel entered the market of Panama and Chile through two acquisitions: the purchase of 100% of Conade’s shares, a company which owns service stations with the brand name Accel, and the purchase of 205 service stations operated by Repsol - YPF in Chile.

With these acquisitions, Terpel now has presence in Colombia, Ecuador, Panama and Chile, consolidating itself as a major player in the Latin American fuel sector.

Gazel and Terpel merged last year after a process that culminated in early 2008.  As a result, Promigas now directly owns 54% of SIE, which has a controlling interest in Terpel.

Natural Gas Consumption in Colombia

Natural gas consumption continued with its growth. The demand for natural gas in Colombia was 735 MCF/D, 6% more than last year. The largest increase was shown in the residential and automotive fuel markets.

The natural gas distribution sector in Colombia continued to expand as in the past recent years, with 334,243 new users connected to the distribution systems surpassing 4.5 million users, which represent an increase of nearly 8% with respect to 2006. Approximately 45% of the Colombian population actually enjoys the benefits of natural gas.

The NGV (Natural Gas for Vehicles) market continued with the same rhythm of growth as witnessed in the latter years. In 2007 389 service stations where in operation, these represent an increase of 62.7%.  This growth of the demand is supported by the 65,000 new vehicles that converted to natural gas in the country. This relevant figure allowed the total automotive park which uses gnv to reach a fleet of nearly 233,000   vehicles, 38% more than 2006.

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Organización Terpel retained its leadership in the fuel sector with 38% of the market share in Colombia and a network of 1,300 owned and affiliated service stations.

Regarding the ngv business, in May of 2007 GNC successfully launched nationwide its new corporate image and brand gazel. The company kept its leadership in the sector with 40% of the total sales volume market accomplished through a network of 153 service stations, which account for 39% of all points of sale in Colombia.

At the beginning of the year, Promigas and its three gas distribution companies: Gases del Caribe, Surtigas and Gases de Occidente, launched a new non-bank financing service known as Brilla. This service was designed with the purpose of contributing to the improvement of the natural gas consumer’s quality of life through the access to simple credit. Brilla is currently offered in Cali, Norte del Valle, Bolívar, Córdoba, Sucre and Atlántico, and soon it will be available to customers in Cesar and Magdalena.   This initiative lead by Promigas has impacted more than 125,000 customers in 2007 92% of them which belong to low income levels.

Likewise, natural gas distribution companies in Promigas’ portfolio: Gases del Caribe, Surtigas, Gases de Occidente and Gases de La Guajira, which currently serve 7 million people 86% of which belong to low income levels, have expanded their services to increment its number of new users to 107,600. Of this percentage, there have been a significant number who have benefited from the agreements established between the Promigas Foundation and the World Bank and Dutch government to subsidize the connections to the natural gas service.