Colombia oil, mining industries upbeat on new government, seek swift changes

Colombia's incoming government must swiftly address regulatory and security hurdles to unlock billions in mining and oil investments, which have been stalled for four years.

Mining and oil companies are ready to invest billions of dollars in Colombia after four years of paralysis in new exploration, but the incoming government needs to act quickly to remove regulatory ‌and security obstacles, industry executives and analysts said. Right-wing President-elect Abelardo De La Espriella will be sworn in on Friday, replacing leftist Gustavo Petro, who banned new hydrocarbon exploration contracts and locked horns with multinational coal companies.

De La Espriella has pledged to revive exploration and could use decrees to simplify and shorten permitting processes, including public consultations. That ‌carries legal risks, while other sought-after measures, such as approving technical parameters for fracking, changing the royalty system, altering contract structures and introducing tax incentives, ‌would require approval from a divided Congress, where he will face opposition from Petro's party.

"We need to unblock all the bottlenecks that are closely tied to prior consultations, administrative decisions and delays in environmental licensing," said Luz Stella Murgas, president of Colombia's natural gas association Naturgas. Major gas developments include the offshore Sirius project in Colombia's Caribbean, a joint venture between state-controlled Ecopetrol and ⁠Brazil's Petrobras . ​Production is expected to begin in ⁠2030, but the project still requires the completion of 120 prior consultations with local communities.

Between 2023 and 2025, foreign investment in mining and oil fell 34% to about $6.9 billion, while Colombia's oil ⁠output declined 4% to an average 746,000 barrels per day and crude reserves dropped by 54 million barrels. Natural gas imports soared to 31% of domestic consumption from just ​3% in 2023, industry data show. Security is another key concern.

The Colombian Petroleum Association (ACP) said 580 attacks and blockades on oil infrastructure were recorded in ⁠2025, causing losses exceeding 2.4 trillion pesos, about $749 million. "The measures have to be comprehensive, aggressive and swift," ACP president Frank Pearl said. "If one of the key variables is missing from the investment ⁠environment, ​it will not be attractive and we may fail to draw those resources."

Nelson Castañeda, president of industry association Campetrol, also called for urgent government action, as "every decision we make today will be reflected in five, 10 and 15 years." BILLIONS IN MINING INVESTMENT STALLED

In mining, Colombia has five gold, copper, coal ⁠and nickel projects that have completed exploration or obtained licenses but have not moved into construction because of legal and political uncertainty under Petro, said Juan ⁠Camilo Nariño, head of the Colombian Mining ⁠Association. "The investments are on the verge of materializing and could amount to between $3.6 billion and $4 billion over the next four years," Nariño said.

Efforts to accelerate permitting processes are highly likely to face legal challenges, said consultancy Colombia Risk Analysis. "There ‌will be no viable ‌legal path to simplify, speed up or eliminate prior consultations," it said.