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Ecopetrol has received CoP$684B in overdue payments from the government’s Fuel Price Stabilization Fund (FEPC) and has named three new vice presidents.

With ConocoPhillips and ExxonMobil both having exited Colombia’s fracking sector, Ecopetrol and Drummond Energy are now the clearest contenders to drill the country’s first unconventional well, while GeoPark has signaled interest without yet committing to specific blocks.

Ecopetrol president Joaquín Gutiérrez Caballero traveled to Caracas on September 30 to attend the International Petroleum and Gas Congress, framing the trip as an exploratory mission rather than the start of any deal.

President Abelardo de la Espriella used Joaquín Gutiérrez’s swearing-in as Ecopetrol’s new president to lay out his own energy policy framing, going further than Gutiérrez’s own fracking pledge from the same ceremony.

Investors are taking a cautious, wait-and-see stance on Joaquín Gutiérrez’s appointment as Ecopetrol’s new CEO, a notably cooler reception than the government’s own confidence in the pick.

A malfunction in one of the floating regasification unit’s trains at the SPEC terminal in Cartagena forced Colombia into temporary industrial gas rationing starting September 24^th, cutting the terminal’s capacity from 475 to 400 mmcfd and restricting roughly 15 GBTU/day of demand normally covered by imported gas.

New Ecopetrol president Joaquín Gutiérrez Caballero used his swearing-in at La Quinta de San Pedro Alejandrino in Santa Marta to announce that the company will resume both fracking and offshore exploration.

Facing a fiscal deficit CARF projects could reach 10% of GDP by the close of 2027 and net debt around 67.3% of GDP, former Finance Minister Mauricio Cárdenas told Blu Radio that selling Ecopetrol’s majority stake in ISA to Colombia’s pension funds would be a smart move.

Ecopetrol’s full board unanimously designated Joaquín Gutiérrez Caballero as the company’s new president on September 24th, following what the company called a structured, agile selection process aimed at finding an “coordinating leader” capable of turning challenges into concrete results.

GeoPark scored highest provisionally for the Corralera Noreste block in Neuquén, Argentina’s Ronda 1/2026 exploratory round, run by Gas y Petróleo del Neuquén (GyP).