Colombia’s incoming government faces a hydrocarbon challenge that goes well beyond production and reserves: a systematic theft operation that is simultaneously draining Ecopetrol’s revenues, fueling illegal economies, and evolving faster than the state’s monitoring capabilities.
The situation Abelardo de la Espriella inherits on August 7th has a clear statistical signature, according to El País: crude oil production is at its lowest level in 16 years – a figure corroborated by Corficolombiana – the ANH signed zero new exploration and production contracts in four years, gas reserves collapsed to the point where Colombia now imports one third of what it consumes, and the sector has posted nine consecutive quarters of declining performance.
The first months of Abelardo de la Espriella’s government will be evaluated against five quantifiable indicators, according to economists assembled by Bloomberg Línea: financial market behavior, fiscal discipline, inflation, investment, and economic activity and confidence.
With fewer than two weeks left in his administration, President Gustavo Petro declared a national disaster for El Niño on July 23 and routed CoP$8T through the National Disaster Risk Management Unit (UNGRD).
The Comisión de Regulación de Energía y Gas (CREG) has named economist Adriana Jiménez Delgado as executive director for a 12-month term, formalized under Resolution CREG 105 015 of 2026.
Higher oil prices and solid operational performance will not automatically translate into stronger credit quality for Latin America’s state-owned oil companies, according to a Moody’s report.
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