BOGOTA, April 11 (Reuters) - The Arrecife gas field

could produce between 20 million and 30 million cubic feet per

day between 2025 and 2026, said Ricardo Roa, CEO of Colombia's

majority state-owned oil company Ecopetrol.

The leftist government of President Gustavo Petro has come

under pressure from industry groups urging it to ensure

self-sufficiency in gas amid a pause in new

exploration licenses.

"Arrecife very quickly will be able to give us between 5 and

10 million cubic feet per day, but surely between 2025 and 2026

it will be giving to the system between 20 and 30 million cubic

feet per day," Roa told a gas conference in the city of

Cartagena on Thursday.

The field, which is located off Colombia's Caribbean

coast, will produce commercial quantities of gas until 2035, and

Ecopetrol has also signed a deal with Canada's Parex Resources ( PARXF )

to develop hydrocarbon projects - particularly gas - in

Colombia's Casanare province, the company said in two separate

statements.

The government has said the South American nation needs to

resolve a gas deficit amid rising demand, with measures to

include buying more liquefied gas and possibly importing from

neighboring Venezuela.

Ecopetrol will work with the U.S. Treasury Department's

Office of Foreign Asset Control to open the way to importing gas

from Venezuela, which is under sanctions, Roa said. He has

previously said Colombia was importing up to 30% of its gas.

A long-dormant gas tube between the two countries will take

between 10 and 12 months to repair, he added.

Colombia's energy minister told the conference on Wednesday

the country will look to loosen regulation on gas exploration

and supply to meet its needs in 2026 and 2027.

The government has not held any licensing rounds for oil and

gas projects amid a push toward a green energy transition.

Some industry participants, such as gas transporter

Promigas, have said the lack of new licenses could affect gas

availability and increase the need for imports.

(Reporting by Carlos Vargas and Oliver Griffin

Writing by Julia Symmes Cobb; Editing by Devika Syamnath)