On the day of his inauguration, Colombian President Abelardo de la Espriella laid out a bold new policy direction for the nation’s energy sector, marking a clear break from the environmental agenda of his predecessor Gustavo Petro. In his inaugural address, the new leader framed energy security as a non-negotiable cornerstone of his administration, with three core priorities: breathing new life into Colombia’s stagnant oil and gas industry, rehabilitating the majority state-owned energy giant Ecopetrol, and shoring up the nation’s strained electricity grid.
De la Espriella affirmed his support for a global transition toward cleaner renewable energy sources, including wind and solar power, but pushed back against the rapid fossil fuel phase-out pursued by the previous government. He argued that any responsible energy transition must be built on national economic strength and self-sufficiency, rather than forcing the sector into decline and leaving Colombia dependent on foreign energy imports. “I believe in the energy transition,” he stated. “But that transition must be built from strength, not from weakness, from self-sufficiency and not from dependence.”
This policy shift stands in stark contrast to the agenda of former President Petro, who paused the awarding of all new oil and gas exploration contracts, centered his environmental platform on Amazon rainforest protection, and positioned Colombia as a global leader in the push to phase out fossil fuels. Just four months before de la Espriella took office, Petro’s administration hosted a high-profile international climate summit in the Caribbean coastal city of Santa Marta, where it rallied global support for accelerated fossil fuel transition.
The new president’s pledges align directly with campaign promises that carried him to victory, where he repeatedly called for expanded oil and gas production and a rollback of Petro’s signature energy policies. Framing energy development as a core issue of national sovereignty, de la Espriella argued that Colombia cannot achieve long-term economic prosperity by leaving its abundant domestic fossil fuel reserves undeveloped.
Among his top priorities is the rehabilitation of Ecopetrol, Colombia’s majority state-owned oil firm and one of the single largest contributors to government revenue and national export earnings. De la Espriella accused the previous administration of systematically weakening the company, and pledged that rebuilding Ecopetrol would be a “definitive and absolute priority” for his government.
In addition to resuming exploration activities, the new president confirmed that his administration will authorize hydraulic fracturing, commonly known as fracking, a controversial extraction method that involves injecting high-pressure mixtures of water, sand and chemicals underground to break up rock formations and unlock trapped oil and gas reserves. He stressed that fracking operations would operate under “the strictest technical and environmental standards” to mitigate ecological risk.
De la Espriella warned that Colombia’s energy system is currently in a “critical situation,” citing a years-long decline in proven oil and gas reserves, repeated delays to critical energy infrastructure projects, and steadily rising domestic electricity demand that has stretched supply thin. He added that the approaching El Niño weather phenomenon, which typically brings prolonged drought conditions to Colombia that cut output from the nation’s hydroelectric power sector, leaves no room for delayed action. “The El Niño phenomenon won’t wait for us,” he said. “To overcome it, it is imperative to implement urgent solutions.”
This report from the Associated Press notes that the outlet’s climate and environmental coverage receives grant funding from multiple private philanthropic foundations, with the AP retaining full editorial control over all content.