Colombia Discovers Massive Natural Gas Reserve

Colombia's national oil company, Ecopetrol, and Brazilian energy giant Petrobras announced a significant discovery of natural gas reserves in the Caribbean Sea off Colombia's coast.

Located near Santa Marta, the gas field was initially discovered in 2022. According to Ecopetrol's recent statement on social media platform X, the reserves in this field are now estimated at approximately 6 trillion cubic feet of natural gas, credited to the discovery of "the largest well found since the 1990s."

Rogério Soares, the general director of exploratory assets at Petrobras, emphasized during an event in Cartagena that this field can double Colombia's natural gas reserves.

The size of the new field is comparable to the existing Cucutilla field in La Guajira, which has been supplying gas to the country for 45 years.

This announcement comes shortly after Colombian President Gustavo Petro's government revealed a $40 billion plan aimed at funding an energy transition to reduce the country’s reliance on oil, gas, and coal.

Petro, who became Colombia’s first leftist president in mid-2022, has been a vocal critic of fossil fuels and envisions that Ecopetrol, the largest employer in the country with 33,000 workers, should focus on renewable energy sources.

As part of this shift, Petro's administration has halted the granting of new oil exploration contracts, a policy that has faced significant backlash from conservative opposition and oil unions, who advocate for a gradual transition without jeopardizing economic security.

The hydrocarbons sector constitutes 2.8% of Colombia's Gross Domestic Product (GDP), according to official figures, and oil remains one of the key export products for the fourth-largest economy in Latin America. 

The discovery of new gas reserves could reshape the energy landscape in Colombia, providing a strategic opportunity for both domestic energy production and export potential.