Ecopetrol Fracking Return and Offshore Push as Colombia Reserves Fall

Colombia’s state oil company has a new president, and his first speech was a warning. Joaquin Gutierrez said the country has only 7.4 years of oil reserves left and 5.9 years of gas.

He also promised what he called responsible fracking, a method the previous government refused to allow anywhere in Colombia. He said offshore exploration in the Caribbean would continue, with the Sirius gas discovery at its centre.

What Colombia’s New Oil Chief Said

Gutierrez spoke on Friday at the ceremony that handed him control of Ecopetrol. Semana reported his phrase that he had not come to dress up reality for anybody.

El Colombiano quoted him describing a narrow energy horizon for the country and calling the reserve figures derisory. He put proved reserves at 7.4 years for oil and 5.9 years for gas.

He said Ecopetrol would advance both conventional and unconventional projects from now on. La Republica quoted him promising responsible fracking and continued exploration of offshore fields.

El Heraldo published a longer passage from the same speech on Saturday. He said he was taking charge of the company at a moment of crisis with no room for half measures.

Why the Reserve Numbers Matter

Reserve life is a blunt measure with a simple meaning that foreign readers can follow. It divides what a country can prove is underground by what it takes out in a year.

A gas reserve life of 5.9 years does not mean the taps run dry in 2032. It means Colombia has to find more gas, or buy it abroad, well before then.

The country is already buying. Colombia began importing liquefied natural gas in December 2024, after more than four decades of supplying itself.

Production is falling as well as reserves. Ecopetrol pumped 705,000 barrels of oil equivalent a day in the second quarter, its lowest level in four years, ABC Economia reported.

The Fracking Reversal at Home

Fracking, or hydraulic fracturing, pumps water and sand underground at pressure to crack rock and free the oil or gas inside. It is routine in shale fields and contested wherever water is scarce.

Colombia has never fracked commercially, whatever its politicians have promised. Ecopetrol had two pilot projects, named Kale and Platero, near Puerto Wilches on the Magdalena River.

Both were suspended in 2022, after a court order and a request from Ecopetrol itself. Semana reported at the time that the company acted in the face of the incoming government’s position.

The Goldman Environmental Prize honoured a Puerto Wilches campaigner, Yuvelis Morales Blanco, this year for her work against those wells. Its citation says the Constitutional Court ruled in 2024 that the pilot projects breached community rights.

The Fracking Ecopetrol Already Does Abroad

Ecopetrol fracks outside Colombia, which is the part of this argument that Colombians know best. It holds a position in the Permian Basin of Texas, where shale wells are fractured as a matter of routine.

That business is shrinking rather than growing. Permian output fell to 80,800 barrels a day in the second quarter, from a peak of 115,000 in 2025, ABC Economia reported.

The previous government wanted the company out of it altogether. Semana reported that President Gustavo Petro asked Ecopetrol in February 2025 to sell its American fracking assets.

He had already blocked a much larger deal in the same basin. The magazine put the vetoed purchase at about US$3.6 billion and said two board members resigned over the decision.

What Offshore Means for the Caribbean Coast

Offshore drilling is the least contested part of the new plan. The prize is Sirius, a deepwater gas discovery that Ecopetrol runs with Brazil’s state oil company Petrobras.

The well sits about 77 kilometres off Santa Marta, in water 830 metres deep. Testing confirmed more than six trillion cubic feet of gas in place there, Colombia One reported.

That volume could roughly triple national gas reserves if it is developed. None of it arrives soon, with production planned for the end of 2029 and about US$2.9 billion set aside for the work.

Gutierrez named Sirius in his speech, La Republica reported, calling it key to supplying the country. He also announced a second Ecopetrol headquarters in Barranquilla, on the same Caribbean coast, El Heraldo reported.

The Argument, and What Happens Next

The government side of the argument is unambiguous. De la Espriella told the same ceremony that his administration reopens exploration and the signing of new contracts, including fracking, El Heraldo reported.

He framed imported energy as the real danger to the country. El Pais of Cali quoted him saying that dependence on imports is not a transition, and promising what he called energy sovereignty.

The case against is older and plainer than the case for. Infobae quoted Gustavo Petro, who was president until August, calling fracking the worst foolishness and saying water is worth more than gold.

Ecopetrol’s main union has been guarded rather than hostile, and its president Martin Ravelo told Infobae that the first task is to recover trust. Neither Gutierrez nor the government has published a timetable for a first new well.

More: Colombia news in English, every day from The Rio Times.

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