EXMAR’s FSU to help Colombia navigate natural gas crisis

September 19, 2025, by Dragana Nikše

Belgian shipping company EXMAR has signed contracts with Colombia’s Regasificadora Del Pacífico (RDP), which is part of Puertos, Inversiones y Obras (PIO), to provide a floating storage unit (FSU) on the west coast of Colombia.

Under the deals, EXMAR will lease the FSU to RDP, and stay on as its manager for five years firm, with extension options. The signing took place during a visit of Colombian representatives to the LNG import facility of EemsEnergyTerminal, home to EXMAR’s Eemshaven LNG unit.

The unit under the latest deal will be deployed to the fast-track LNG import solution in the inner bay of Buenaventura that RDP is developing as part of the Buenaventura LNG project. Its group company, PIO, signed a deal with Colombia’s state-owned Ecopetrol earlier this year to provide regasification and logistics services for 60 million cubic feet per day (mmcfd) of gas.

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Project & Tenders

Since Colombia is expected to experience a natural gas deficit in 2025, the country will have to import most of its gas needs, which is why regasification capacities on the Pacific Coast are seen as necessary.

EXMAR’s CEO, Carl-Antoine Saverys, said: “EXMAR is excited to embark on this journey with the experienced project development teams of the RDP group. We are confident that the combined strengths of EXMAR’s expertise and RDP’s project development experience in Colombia will offer an innovative LNG import solution.”

As reported, RDP’s solution will be based on a floating LNG storage and offloading unit. The natural gas will be loaded from LNG carriers, offloaded into isotainers, and transported to the port of Buenaventura by barge.

The isotainers will then be transported by trucks to the regasification plant in Buga, where the LNG will be regasified and injected into the national transport system. This new imported gas will enable Ecopetrol to contribute to the country’s energy security.

“The signing of this contract not only marks a milestone for RDP as a maritime logistics company, but it is even more significant and decisive to have the endorsement of more than 60 community, union, educational, and institutional leaders from Buenaventura and Buga. For RDP it is essential to partner with EXMAR to coordinate and implement the project in a responsible way,” noted RDP’s President, Oscar Isaza.

According to EXMAR, the Buenaventura LNG project and the related contracts with the Belgian company remain subject to final investment decision (FID) and other customary conditions precedent. These are expected to be lifted in Q4 2025.