Peru gas concessionaire flags 'critical' financial situation

Peruvian natural gas distributor Contugas, which serves the Ica region, has questioned the viability of its concession.

"The concession carries a negative net profit (losses) due to the large investments made during the construction phase of the concession, which have not been recovered due to the lack of recognition in our tariff and the lack of large customers and significant investments in our regional concession that constitute the support of the rates for the benefit of residential and commercial customers," according to the Grupo Energía Bogotá-controlled company.

Contugas made the comment as part of its 2026–30 rate-setting process managed by energy and mining investment regulator Osinergmin.

The distributor said that "significant" contributions from its investors have kept it from being dissolved.

Contugas added that its financial situation is critical, highlighting that with debt exceeding US$300mn, it is impossible to access new lines of credit at reasonable rates to support large network expansions.

"Net profit has been at negative levels in recent years, and the average level of indebtedness (total debt/total assets) in recent years has been around 85%, which is among the highest in the region in the regulated public services sector," the concessionaire stated.

Contugas' revised 2026–30 expansion plan following observations by Osinergmin is available in the Documents box in the right corner of the screen.

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(The original version of this content was written in English)