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.
Colombia’s Environment Minister Fabio Arjona announced the government is revoking Decree 973 of 2026 and will build a new regulatory framework for the country’s carbon markets, a reversal he framed as necessary to salvage the market’s credibility.
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.
Colombia’s National Hydrocarbons Agency (ANH) used the XXIII ACIPET Petroleum, Gas and Energy Congress in Bucaramanga to lay out both the scale of the country’s exploration slowdown and its plan to reverse it.
2026, Hydrocarbons Colombia, All Rights Reserved.
