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While Latin America’s oil and gas sector surges ahead, Colombia has chosen to sit quietly on the sidelines.

Ecopetrol (NYSE: EC) is pushing ahead with offshore gas exploration in the Caribbean, even after global energy giant Shell (LON: RDSB) withdrew from three key maritime blocks.

Despite holding considerable oil reserves, Latin America is approaching a critical threshold that demands immediate action to secure its energy future.

In 2024, Colombia experienced a sharp decline in oil and gas exploration, raising serious concerns about the country’s long-term energy security.

Ecopetrol (NYSE: EC) has once again postponed the drilling of its ultra-deepwater Komodo well in the Caribbean Sea, citing ongoing restrictions from the National Environmental Licensing Agency (ANLA) that continue to make the project unviable.

Rodrigo Costa, General Manager of Petrobras Colombia, talked about the expectations about the Sirius-2 well.

The president of the National Hydrocarbons Agency (ANH), Orlando Velandia, talked about the process to award environmental licenses for Block GUA-OFF-0, formerly known as the Tayrona block.

Ecopetrol’s (NYSE: EC) President, Ricardo Roa Barragán, refuted claims that the Sirius (formerly Uchuva) wells, located in the Colombian Caribbean Sea and operated in partnership with Petrobras International Braspetro B.V. were unproductive.

During Colombia’s energy uncertainty, the ultra-deepwater Komodo-1 project emerged as a potential solution to expand the country’s oil and gas reserves. However, Ecopetrol (NYSE: EC) and Anadarko are increasingly pessimistic about the feasibility of exploration and production any time soon.

In 2024, Petrobras (NYSE: PBR) and Ecopetrol (NYSE: EC) confirmed the discovery of the Sirius natural gas deposit in Colombia’s Caribbean, marking the largest find in the last three decades and potentially doubling the country’s gas reserves.