Petroleum giant Petrobras announced Thursday the discovery of natural gas deposits in Colombia that could double the South American country’s known reserves even as it seeks to transition away from hydrocarbons. Petrobras announces ‘huge’ gas discovery in Colombia The discovery, the largest since the 1990s, comes as Colombia faces pressure on its energy supplies, derived mainly from hydroelectric power, amid a severe drought impacting much of South America. But it also coincides with a government drive to stop extracting fossil fuels as it transitions to a low-carbon economy. The “huge discovery” of some six trillion cubic feet of natural gas “has the potential to double Colombia’s reserves,” Petrobras general manager for exploration, Rogerio Soares, said at an oil and gas summit in Cartagena in Colombia’s north. The deposits are comparable in size to those of the Cuchupa oil and gas field that has supplied gas to Colombia for the last 45 years. Brazil’s Petrobras has a 44.4 percent stake in a gas exploration consortium in the Colombian Caribbean, with state company Ecopetrol holding the other …