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.
Ecopetrol’s (NYSE: ECP) official stance on the future of its Permian asset lasted only a few days before being publicly contradicted by Colombia’s Ministry of Finance (MinHacienda).
That depends on whether we are talking about demand or supply. The Petro government is obsessed with both peak demand and peak supply, insisting that Colombia’s energy system be reconfigured to deal with a declining oil sector in the 2030s. As a lead up to the COP30 meetings in Brazil, the International Energy Agency (IEA) gave its latest view.
Colombia’s most powerful oil workers’ union, the Unión Sindical Obrera (USO), has formally distanced itself from President Gustavo Petro’s vision of the country’s energy transition, accusing his policies of endangering Ecopetrol (NYSE: EC), the state-controlled oil giant.
The Colombian government is reaffirming its commitment to energy security through the planned regasification plant in Ballenas, La Guajira, a cornerstone project expected to strengthen the country’s natural gas supply over the next decade.
Recently, we published an article that showed what happened when the country’s only regas facility, SPEC, closed for scheduled maintenance. One might have expected that since SPEC programmed the maintenance well in advance, some planning might have avoided any stress about shortages. We look for evidence of that planning. (UPDATE: Technical difficulties overcome and graphs and full text now loaded.)
Colombia’s economy is now receiving more money from its citizens abroad than from its traditional export giants.
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