Abelardo de la Espriella used his inauguration on Friday to tell Colombia he wants more oil, more gas and a stronger electricity system. He also promised to restore Ecopetrol, the state-owned energy company, and said the country would still pursue an energy transition toward wind and solar power.
“I believe in the energy transition,” he said, before adding: “But that transition must be built from strength, not from weakness, from self-sufficiency and not from dependence.” He described energy security as “a matter of national sovereignty” and said rebuilding Ecopetrol would be “a definitive and absolute priority.”
Colombia's energy reversal
The shift breaks with Gustavo Petro’s approach. Before Friday, Petro had stopped awarding new oil and gas exploration contracts, pushed Colombia toward renewable energy and made protection of the Amazon a centerpiece of his environmental agenda. Four months ago, Petro’s government hosted an international summit in Santa Marta aimed at building support for a global transition away from fossil fuels.
De la Espriella framed his own plan as a repair job for a system he said was under strain. He cited declining oil and gas reserves, delayed energy projects and rising electricity demand, and called Colombia’s energy system a “critical situation,” while also saying the El Nino phenomenon would not wait for Colombia.
Ecopetrol and drilling plans
Restoring Ecopetrol, in practical terms, signals a return to using the company as the main vehicle for oil and gas expansion rather than letting it sit behind a tighter exploration regime. De la Espriella said his administration would expand oil and gas exploration to rebuild Colombia’s declining reserves, guarantee energy security and attract investment back into the sector.
He also said his government would authorize fracking under “the strictest technical and environmental standards.” The promise creates a split-track policy: Colombia would keep talking about cleaner energy, but it would try to finance and stabilize that shift with more hydrocarbons, not fewer.
El Nino and energy security
De la Espriella said urgent solutions were needed to overcome El Nino, linking weather stress to supply security and the electricity system. He said Colombia would strengthen that system while pursuing cleaner energy sources such as wind and solar power, a combination that suggests the first tests of his government will come in how fast it can move from speech to rule changes.
For companies, workers and consumers tied to Ecopetrol and the broader power sector, the immediate question is operational: how quickly the new government rewrites exploration policy, and whether fracking approval becomes the first visible sign that Colombia’s energy course has changed.
