The latest “COP” global conference ended without a declaration on fossil fuels. A number of countries, led by Colombia, pushed for an energy transition “roadmap” to abandon these, but resistance, mostly from producer countries, kept that from making the final version.
Colombia’s ongoing fiscal crisis is expected to worsen in 2026 due to a sharp drop in the profits of Ecopetrol, the nation’s most important company. The urgency for cash is so significant that the current administration has introduced a third tax reform bill to Congress.
Fitch Ratings issued a stark warning for Colombia’s oil and gas sector: the country’s proven reserves now have a useful life of less than seven years, a decline that has accelerated since 2021.
Colombia’s energy sector is once again warning that the country’s heavy tax load is eroding competitiveness and slowing investment.
Colombia’s announcement at COP30 that it would declare the entire Amazon biome a Renewable Natural Resources Reserve, effectively banning new large-scale mining and hydrocarbons activity, was intended as a bold environmental milestone.
Colombia’s long-awaited offshore gas project, Sirius, is steadily moving through its licensing stages, yet the country’s widening supply gap is prompting experts to call for an interim solution: using fracking to regain self-sufficiency while the offshore field comes online.
Colombia’s hydrocarbon sector is entering a decisive phase, and without a rapid rebound in exploration, the country risks losing production capacity, fiscal stability and long-term energy security. That was the warning delivered by Frank Pearl, president of the Colombian Oil and Gas Association (ACP), at the VIII Petroleum, Gas and Energy Summit.
During the second day of the VIII Petroleum, Gas and Energy Summit, a brief remark from Orlando Velandia, president of Colombia’s National Hydrocarbons Agency (ANH), set off a wave of speculation across the oil and gas sector.
Colombia’s energy transition, one of the flagship promises of President Gustavo Petro’s administration, was thrust into the spotlight after attorney Carlos Roncancio filed a formal complaint before the Inspector General Office, alleging that public resources destined for the process were never translated into real execution on the ground.
The Petro administration has revived its push for a revised tax reform, now scaled down to CoP16.3T, roughly CoP$10T less than the original proposal. But the path through Congress remains uncertain.
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