The massification of natural gas will benefit thousands of Peruvians in the south of the country

An ambitious plan to expand the natural gas networks - which involves initially doubling residential customers in the Arequipa, Moquegua and Tacna regions - has been proposed to be executed by the Ministry of Energy and Mines (Minem) with the supervision of Petroperú, starting of the first quarter of next year.

This announcement was made during the VI National Congress of Service Stations: Massification of Natural Gas and LNG, which took place at the headquarters of the Lima Chamber of Commerce and whose speaker was Criseida Correa Ramírez, coordinator of Accounting and Finance of the Gas Corporate Management of the state oil company.

The official, who developed the topic "Strengthening the massification of natural gas through pipeline networks in southwestern Peru," estimated that these works - in which, she said, the highest standards of quality and safety will be applied - will make it possible to address the demand for natural gas from the population of those regions. "It should be clarified that said works will be fully financed by Minem, after concluding the contracting of the companies that will be in charge of its execution," she said.

Correa Ramírez added that the specific investment agreement signed will initially allow the construction of 150 kilometers (km) of distribution networks.

“In this first stage, the Arequipa region will benefit with the connection of 7,984 homes, building 93 km of networks, in addition to financing connections for social institutions and MSEs (micro and small enterprises),” she said, emphasizing that Petroperú faces a great challenge to achieve the widespread use of natural gas.