Colombia’s Gas Is Running Low. Three Firms Race for Its First Fracking Well
COLOMBIA · ENERGY
Key Facts
- —The country Colombia, a nation of about 53 million people, lives off oil: crude is its biggest export. Natural gas cooks food in millions of homes and fuels power plants.
- —The background Colombia has never drilled a fracking well. Two pilot wells approved in 2020 and 2021 were halted under former president Gustavo Petro, who opposed the technique throughout his 2022–2026 term.
- —Why now Proven gas reserves fell 16.8 percent in 2025, to 5.9 years of output. President Abelardo de la Espriella, in office since 7 August, campaigned on bringing fracking back.
- —What happened On 25 September De la Espriella said his government reopens exploration “including fracking”. Ecopetrol’s new chief promised “responsible fracking”, and three companies are now positioning for the first well.
- —Who is who Ecopetrol, the state-controlled oil company, held the pilot licences. Drummond, the US coal miner, holds four shale contracts and targets 2027. GeoPark, a regional producer, says it is ready but has no project.
- —What it means for you Investors in Ecopetrol and Colombian energy face a long licensing road, not a quick output boost. Households will keep relying on imported gas for years.
- —Still open No new environmental licence has been issued. A court-ordered consultation with an Afro-Colombian community is pending, and a bill to ban fracking still sits in the Senate.
Colombia is running short of natural gas, and its new government wants to fix that by drilling the country’s first fracking well. On 25 September President Abelardo de la Espriella promised fracking “a lo que dé”, roughly “whatever it takes”.
Three companies are now in the running: Ecopetrol, Drummond and GeoPark. None of them can drill yet, and the first well is unlikely before 2027.
A U-turn announced in Santa Marta
The signal came on Friday at a ceremony in the Caribbean city of Santa Marta. There De la Espriella presented Joaquín Gutiérrez as Ecopetrol’s new president.
Gutiérrez, his former campaign manager, formally takes office on Monday 28 September.
“My government fully reopens the path of exploration and of signing new contracts, including fracking,” De la Espriella said, according to Infobae. He called the previous policy “energy dependence”, not energy transition.
Gutiérrez said Ecopetrol would “implement responsible fracking” and keep exploring offshore. He also said he would guarantee prior consultation with local communities, but not let it be used to delay projects.
The reason is arithmetic. The National Hydrocarbons Agency (ANH), which awards oil and gas blocks, put proven gas reserves at 1,717 billion cubic feet in 2025.
That is enough for 5.9 years at current output. Colombia already imports about 30 percent of the gas it uses, Drummond Energy’s country manager told El Tiempo.
Ecopetrol: the pilots it gave up
Ecopetrol, about 88.5 percent owned by the state, was closest to drilling once before. With ExxonMobil it ran two research pilots, Kalé and Platero, near Puerto Wilches in Santander department.
The ANH said in 2021 the pair involved about US$130 million in joint investment. The national environmental licensing authority, ANLA, granted Kalé its licence in March 2022.
Under Petro, Ecopetrol dropped Platero’s licence application. The Constitutional Court then ordered a prior consultation with Afrowilches, a local Afro-Colombian organisation, and both research contracts were later terminated early.
Ecopetrol does have fracking experience abroad. Since 2019 it has drilled in the Permian Basin of Texas through a partnership with Occidental Petroleum.
Drummond: contracts already signed
Drummond, the Alabama-based company best known for its Colombian coal mines, looks better placed, according to El Tiempo. Its energy arm holds four contracts for shale gas in the Cesar-Ranchería basin in the north-east, signed in 2016.
Alberto García, head of Drummond Energy, told El Tiempo the company expects to drill in Cesar department in 2027. It has shelved a planned gas import terminal to focus on shale.
García says the rock there could hold up to 20 trillion cubic feet of producible gas. That is a company estimate, not a certified reserve, but it is more than ten times Colombia’s proven gas.
It still needs amended and new environmental licences.
“Fracking will never be done in natural parks or mountain areas,” García said. He added that it depends on “solid political will” and long-term legal stability.
GeoPark: ready, but no project
GeoPark, a Latin American oil producer that has worked in Colombia for 14 years, is run by Felipe Bayón. He led Ecopetrol from 2017 to 2023 and pushed the original pilots.
“We are ready to accompany this development of unconventionals,” Bayón told an oil industry congress in Bucaramanga on 22 September. Portafolio reports GeoPark is studying the Middle Magdalena Valley and Cesar-Ranchería basins.
It has named no block, budget or timetable.
Its fracking know-how comes from Argentina’s Vaca Muerta shale field. There, it says, output from one asset rose from about 1,500 to over 4,000 barrels of oil equivalent a day.
Legal, but not simple
Fracking is not banned in Colombia. In July 2022 the Council of State, the top administrative court, upheld the technical rules from 2013 and 2014 that govern it.
Petro’s government filed a bill to ban it outright on 20 July 2026, weeks before leaving office. It is still pending in the Senate.
Industry voices want to skip the pilots entirely. “Colombia does not need fracking pilots,” said Luz Stella Murgas, head of the gas industry association Naturgás.
The oil workers’ union USO wants them revived to win community trust.
What comes next
An environmental licence takes about 90 working days on paper, El Tiempo notes. Public hearings and consultations often stretch that far longer.
José Vicente Zapata, a lawyer at Holland & Knight, expects opponents to challenge any move to revive fracking in court.
This news does not mean fracking has started, or that any licence has been granted. It also does not mean cheaper gas soon: even a 2027 well would be a test, with commercial output years further off.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is fracking legal in Colombia?
Yes. No law bans it, and the Council of State upheld the regulations in 2022. But no project has ever received all the licences needed to drill.
Why does Colombia want to frack now?
Its proven gas reserves cover only about six years of output, and it already imports gas. The new government sees shale gas as a way to avoid growing dependence on imports.
When could the first fracking well be drilled?
Drummond says 2027 at the earliest, if licences come through. Ecopetrol has given no date, and GeoPark has no specific project yet.
Where would fracking happen?
In two basins: the Middle Magdalena Valley around Puerto Wilches and Barrancabermeja, and Cesar-Ranchería in the north-east. The government says protected areas are excluded.
Sources: Infobae, De la Espriella and Gutiérrez in Santa Marta, 26 September 2026, El Tiempo, the race for the first well, 27 September 2026, Portafolio, Ecopetrol, Drummond and GeoPark, 27 September 2026, El Tiempo, interview with Drummond Energy’s Alberto García, 1 September 2026, Valora Analitik, Felipe Bayón at the Acipet congress, 22 September 2026, Valora Analitik, legal framework for fracking, 22 August 2026, National Hydrocarbons Agency, 2025 reserves report (press release), 23 June 2026, Constitutional Court, ruling T-514 of 2023. All retrieved 27 September 2026.
This article was produced by The Rio Times’ automated newsroom system. How we use AI · Report an error
In depth
Read More from The Rio Times