- ELECTRICIDAD
Corpoelec set 1,300 megawatts for the fourth quarter; 600 depend on Planta Centro's unit 6.
Planta Centro: 600 MW «en los próximos días» · Zulia: más de 500 MW en 7 unidades · resto: menos de 200 MW
affects industry in the center and west and oil operators that rely on the grid
- GAS
CAF put the repair of the gas pipeline to Colombia at $66 million; it is still waiting for an OFAC license.
Inversión mínima: US$66 millones · reparación acordada el 11 de marzo · inactivo desde 2015, según la CAF
affects Colombian industries that need gas and whoever would sell Venezuelan gas
- MINERÍA
Glencore and Peabody are reported to be preparing a joint bid for Zulia coal assets; neither has confirmed it.
Carbón: 7,9 millones de toneladas en 2000 · 315.000 en 2024 · GL 55A: solo contratos contingentes
affects Carbones del Zulia and miners weighing entry under an OFAC license
Oil companies are already required by the July hydrocarbons regulation to generate their own power or contract it from third parties, and even so several of their executives warned at the Caracas summit that they see no way to start or expand projects unless the grid recovers faster. What could move their math this month comes with two dates: the self-generation technical standard, with 90 extendable days that run out on Monday the 5th if counted as calendar days, and the 600-megawatt machine announced for "the coming days." Gas and coal depend on Washington. The pipeline to Colombia awaits a license for its repair, and in Zulia's mines any investment would require a separate, specific one.
New homes assigned to families affected by the two June 24 earthquakes, according to the official tally of September 28. Another 1,800 properties have been rehabilitated.
On August 10 the government counted 287 homes handed over and reaffirmed the goal of at least 4,000 by year-end. As of September 28 the count is 709, meaning 422 more in seven weeks. Reaching the goal requires 3,291 more in three months, and the Ministry of Habitat and Housing reports 5,213 under construction across 38 work sites. The scale of the damage is larger: the same August tally classified 9,567 homes with a red tag, as high risk. The pace of handovers in October will show how much of what is under construction arrives before year-end.
The electricity minister said on Tuesday the 29th that the grid will add 1,300 megawatts in the fourth quarter: 600 from Planta Centro's unit 6 and more than 500 from seven units in Zulia.
Rolando Alcalá, the electricity minister, announced on Tuesday the 29th, alongside Corpoelec's president, that the power system will add 1,300 megawatts in the last quarter of 2026. Planta Centro, in Carabobo, will contribute 600 with its unit 6 "in the coming days"; seven units in Zulia, more than 500, and the rest, other reactivated units. Corpoelec had given no timeline for the deficit at its September 23 press conference. The announcement came during the Caracas oil summit, where industry executives warned that electricity is the biggest obstacle to their projects.
Corpoelec · Ministerio de Energía Eléctrica ↗Plan del 4T-2026: 1.300 MW · Planta Centro, unidad 6: 600 MW · Zulia: más de 500 MW en 7 unidades · resto: menos de 200 MW sin identificar · demanda máxima reportada: 16.424 MWCorpoelec presents it as a recovery phase: existing units return to service, with spare parts it now buys through direct agreements with manufacturers such as Siemens and General Electric, access the minister described as new this year. The volume is concentrated, because 600 of the 1,300 megawatts depend on a single machine. Against the peak demand of 16,424 megawatts the government reported in September, the whole plan amounts to less than 8%.
Industry in Carabobo and the center-west: Planta Centro's unit 6, the first announced to come online, supports that part of the grid, according to Corpoelec.
States outside the center and Zulia: the rest of the plan, under 200 megawatts, comes from "other units nationwide" that the minister did not identify.
INDICADORPlanta Centro's unit 6 entering service, with 600 megawatts. · «En los próximos días», según el ministro el 29 de septiembre; el plan completo corre hasta el 31 de diciembre.
Colombia's gas industry body called on Wednesday the 30th, in Caracas, for the pipeline with Venezuela to be repaired and reopened. CAF put the minimum investment at $66 million; the project awaits an OFAC license.
Luz Stella Murgas, president of Naturgas, Colombia's gas industry body, said on Wednesday the 30th at the Caracas summit that the Antonio Ricaurte pipeline "must be repaired and reopened as soon as possible." Sandra Conde, CAF's transport and gas director, put the minimum investment before exports to Colombia at $66 million and said the pipeline has been idle since 2015. The repair project awaits a license from the Treasury Department.
CAF · Naturgas — Reuters vía Devdiscourse ↗Inversión mínima: US$66 millones (CAF) · reparación acordada el 11-mar-2026 · inactivo desde 2015 (CAF) · licencia de la OFAC: pendiente · gas nuevo al mercado interno: no antes de 2027 (AVPG)Colombia and Venezuela agreed on March 11 that PDVSA would repair the damaged section of the Antonio Ricaurte pipeline, between La Guajira and Zulia. More than six months later the work is still pending a Treasury license, and CAF estimates at least $66 million is needed before exports. Nor is gas in surplus: the head of the gas processors' association said new volumes are unlikely to reach the domestic market before the end of 2026.
The Venezuelan state as seller: CAF describes it as a project "Venezuela can monetize" that would solve its neighbor's supply problem.
Colombian industries that depend on gas: the industry body warns the deficit puts them at risk, and without a license the repair cannot begin.
INDICADORThe OFAC license for the pipeline repair project and the financing of the $66 million. · Sin fecha; la reparación se acordó el 11 de marzo y la AVPG sitúa el arranque de los proyectos internos de gas a finales del primer semestre de 2027.
Glencore and Peabody are reported to be preparing a joint bid for coal assets in Zulia, and Heeney Capital another with Drummond. None of the companies has confirmed it.
Glencore and Peabody Energy are working on a possible joint bid for coal assets in Zulia, and New York firm Heeney Capital is preparing a separate one with miner Drummond, according to a September 30 report, without official confirmation from the companies. The talks focus on control of operations and the right to market the output, not on buying the mines. Glencore and Drummond mine coal in neighboring Colombia; Peabody held a stake in the operator of Paso Diablo until Venezuela declined to renew the concession in 2013.
Bloomberg ↗Glencore + Peabody: oferta conjunta (reporte) · Heeney + Drummond: propuesta aparte · GL 51D y 54C nombran a Carbones del Zulia · GL 55A: contratos contingentes · carbón: 7,9 Mt (2000), 0,3 Mt (2024)OFAC's general license 51D has authorized certain transactions involving Venezuelan-origin coal since September 2, and 54C the supply of goods and services to those mines; both name Carbones del Zulia. To invest, 55A only allows signing contracts whose performance depends on a separate OFAC authorization. The base is low: output was 315,000 tons in 2024, against 7.9 million in 2000, according to the EIA.
Carbones del Zulia, the state company that holds the mines: it would gain an operator and a sales channel without selling them, which is what is being negotiated according to the report.
Whichever investor signs first: under license 55A its investment contract cannot be performed until OFAC grants a specific authorization.
INDICADORA statement from Glencore, Peabody or Drummond, or a specific OFAC license to invest in Zulia coal. · Sin calendario de las partes; primer corte de seguimiento el 31 de octubre.
HOW OUR CALLS ARE DOING
indicators we issued in earlier editionsOn September 30 we left the watch on the Supreme Court's Preliminary Commission open: it had been appointed, but with no published timetable.
The National Assembly published it on Wednesday the 30th, the day the commission was installed. From Friday, October 2, to Friday the 9th it takes credentials at the Federal Legislative Palace from those who want to sit on the Judicial Nominations Committee, and on Thursday the 15th it presents the list of those selected to the plenary. The committee's swearing-in was pencilled in for October 16, a date the official note does not include. Dinorah Figuera, who leads the opposition delegation at the dialogue table, said the same Wednesday that naming the justices is a "deliverable" for November.