Abelardo de la Espriella used his inauguration in Cali on Friday to put Colombia’s oil and gas sector back at the center of state power, promising to revive Ecopetrol, expand exploration and authorize fracking under what he called "the strictest technical and environmental standards." The ceremony took place under heavy security, far from the capital’s usual stage, and the message was plain: energy policy would be built around sovereignty, investment and the needs of the apparatus, not around the people who live with the consequences.
Who Gets the Bill
De la Espriella said energy security would be "a cornerstone of his administration" and called it "a matter of national sovereignty." That language does the usual work. It turns a decision about extraction into a patriotic duty, while the costs land somewhere else. He said Colombia could not expect long-term prosperity by leaving its natural resources undeveloped, and he warned that the country’s energy system was in a "critical situation," citing declining oil and gas reserves, delayed energy projects and rising electricity demand.
The president also said the approaching El Nino weather phenomenon meant there was little time to act. "The El Nino phenomenon won't wait for us. To overcome it, it is imperative to implement urgent solutions," he said. The urgency is real enough. So is the hierarchy. The people at the bottom are told to accept the pace and priorities set from above, while the state frames extraction as the only serious answer.
Ecopetrol, the State’s Prize
Rebuilding Ecopetrol, Colombia’s majority state-owned oil company and one of the country’s largest sources of government revenue and export earnings, would be "a definitive and absolute priority," de la Espriella said. He accused the previous administration of weakening the company. That’s the old script: a new ruler blames the last one, then tightens the same machinery and calls it renewal.
He also confirmed his government would expand oil and gas exploration to rebuild Colombia’s declining reserves, guarantee energy security and attract investment back into the sector. The promise is aimed upward, toward capital and the state’s revenue stream. The burden of that choice, as always, will be carried elsewhere.
De la Espriella said Colombia would pursue an energy transition away from oil, gas and coal toward cleaner energy sources such as wind and solar power, but insisted it must not come at the expense of the country’s oil and gas industry. "I believe in the energy transition," he said. "But that transition must be built from strength, not from weakness, from self-sufficiency and not from dependence."
That’s the reform trap in polished language. Transition, but not too much. Change, but only if the old extraction order stays intact. The bosses keep their fuel, the state keeps its revenue, and the public gets the bill for both systems at once.
What Petro Left Behind
The shift marks a sharp break from former President Gustavo Petro, who stopped awarding new oil and gas exploration contracts while pushing Colombia toward renewable energy and making 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’s campaign had already signaled this turn. He repeatedly vowed to expand oil and gas production and reverse key elements of Petro’s energy policy. Now those promises are moving from campaign theater into state policy, with heavy security around the inauguration and a national energy plan built around extraction, investment and control.
The ceremony in Cali broke with the tradition of holding the inauguration in the capital. That detail matters. Power likes its own choreography. It also likes to remind everyone who gets to decide where the show happens, who stands behind the barricades, and who’s expected to live with the consequences once the speeches end.