Key Facts
- What happened Colombia’s environmental licensing agency, ANLA, dropped three conditions on the Komodo-X1 offshore gas exploration well on 29 October.
- How big The well is exploratory and offshore in ultra-deep Caribbean water, so no gas has been proven.
- What it means Ecopetrol (NYSE: EC) and its US partner Anadarko face fewer approval steps before drilling.
- The catch Not a drilling start: Ecopetrol’s board chair said in August 2025 the well would wait past 2026.
- Where The work area falls under the port authorities of Barranquilla, Santa Marta and Riohacha on Colombia’s Caribbean coast.
- What comes next Ecopetrol reports third-quarter results on Tuesday 10 November after the US market close.
- Power Index Colombia ranks 6th of 14 in The Rio Times Latin America Power Index, with 51.1 points (November 2026 edition).
Colombia’s environmental licensing agency, ANLA, removed three conditions from the permit for the Komodo-X1 offshore gas exploration well, in a resolution dated Thursday 29 October 2026 that came to light on Friday 6 November. The change concerns Ecopetrol, Colombia’s state-controlled oil company that trades in New York as EC, and its US-linked partner Anadarko, a subsidiary of Occidental Petroleum.
For US investors the fine print matters more than the headline: the permit itself dates from December 2024, and the new resolution only removes extra checks that Anadarko said made the project hard to run. The resolution is about permit conditions, not about when drilling begins.
Komodo-X1 is an exploration well in block COL-1, in the Colombian Caribbean, in water roughly four kilometres deep. Nothing has been found yet, because the well has not been drilled.
What ANLA Changed
ANLA, the National Environmental Licensing Authority, issued Resolution 002921 after Anadarko, the licence holder, asked on 8 October 2026 for the conditions to be reviewed. ANLA’s technical advisory council met on 22 October, and the Environment Ministry sent a technical opinion before the decision.
First, Anadarko no longer needs ANLA’s prior favourable ruling on the environmental management plan for each well before starting work. The plans must still be filed, and ANLA says it will check them during its regular compliance monitoring.
Second, ANLA no longer has to collect extra opinions on the emergency contingency plans from bodies such as the National Hydrocarbons Agency, the national disaster-risk unit, the maritime authority Dimar and the Navy. The contingency plans themselves, which cover events such as oil spills, and the duty to prevent and respond to emergencies remain in force.
Third, the requirement to set up a special group of experts to advise on the project’s biological, physical and social effects is gone. ANLA can instead draw on its existing technical advisory council.
How the Dispute Got Here
ANLA granted Anadarko the licence on 18 December 2024, after a licensing step had been stalled for more than five months. In 2025 it issued Resolution 406, which set or adjusted the same three kinds of conditions it has now removed.
Anadarko asked in July 2025 for those conditions to be revoked, and ANLA refused in September 2025. Elsa Jaimes, Ecopetrol’s general manager for offshore and exploration, said in May 2025 that the remaining requirements left no time to drill in the 2025-2026 window.
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What It Means for US Readers
Ecopetrol’s shares trade on the New York Stock Exchange as EC, and Komodo is one of its most important offshore exploration projects. The company reports third-quarter results after the US market close on Tuesday 10 November and holds a call on Wednesday 11 November at nine in the morning New York time.
Occidental Petroleum, a US oil company, is the parent of Anadarko, so the permit change also touches an American company’s project. Anadarko holds the licence and operates the well.
Colombia faces declining oil and gas reserves and growing dependence on imports, which is why a deep-water gas discovery would matter to its energy supply. Komodo is still only an exploration well, so the benefit, if any, is years away.
The Environmental Debate
The well is offshore, so any accident would put marine ecosystems at risk rather than land. ANLA says the obligations to prevent, mitigate, correct and compensate environmental damage remain in force.
ANLA argues that the extra administrative mechanisms are not provided for in environmental rules, and that the project’s overall environmental viability was settled when the licence was granted. The resolution changes conditions of an offshore exploration permit and leaves the licence itself in place.
The conditions removed now trace back to the December 2024 licence and its 2025 adjustment. The decision does not show that environmental damage will occur, and it does not exempt the company from responsibility for its operations.
What Is Not Known
- The drilling date. The resolution does not set one. Ecopetrol and Anadarko can say, and Ecopetrol’s results call on Wednesday 11 November is the first public chance to ask.
- The size of any gas find. Only the drill can answer this. Ecopetrol and Anadarko would report it after the well is drilled, on a date not yet set.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the Komodo-X1 well?
It is an exploratory offshore well in block COL-1, in the Caribbean waters of Colombia, drilled to look for gas in ultra-deep water. Anadarko holds the licence and operates it with Ecopetrol as partner.
What did ANLA change?
ANLA removed the prior approval of per-well environmental management plans, the extra opinions from other agencies on contingency plans, and the requirement for a special expert group. Resolution 002921 is dated 29 October 2026.
Does the ruling mean drilling starts now?
No, because the resolution only changes permit conditions. Ecopetrol’s board chair said in August 2025 that drilling would not take place in 2026.
Is Komodo-X1 a fracking project?
No, because the project is an offshore exploration well. The resolution only changes conditions of the existing permit.
Why does it matter to US investors?
Ecopetrol trades in New York as EC, and its partner Anadarko belongs to Occidental Petroleum. Ecopetrol reports third-quarter results on Tuesday 10 November after the US market close.
Sources: ANLA (National Environmental Licensing Authority), Resolution 002921 of 29 October 2026 (https://www.anla.gov.co/). Ecopetrol, press release of 27 October 2026 on its third-quarter 2026 results dates (https://www.ecopetrol.com.co/). Procuraduría General de la Nación (Colombia’s public oversight office), statement of 19 December 2024 on the Komodo-X1 licence (https://www.procuraduria.gov.co/). Photos via Flickr (https://www.flickr.com/).
This article was produced by The Rio Times’ automated newsroom system. How we use AI · Report an error · Editorial responsibility: Matthias Camenzind, Editor-in-Chief
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