Colombian oil production has slipped into decline
Warning signs for Colombia’s upstream
The clock is ticking to prevent years of crude production decline ending the country’s ability to meet its own energy needs
Months of national protests last year dealt another blow to Colombia’s ambitions of reviving its flagging crude production. The country’s National Hydrocarbons Agency (ANH) estimates that output averaged just 736,397bl/d in 2021, down from 779,119bl/d the year before, which was already an 11-year low. “There has not been a significant increase in proven resource volume in years,” says Sofia Forestieri, an upstream analyst at consultancy Rystad Energy. “Crude resources total 1.8bn bl and, at the current rate, [Colombia] will only be able to sustain production for another five or six years.” Latin America’s third-largest oil producer reached peak production in 2013, with output at 990,000bl/d,
Also in this section
21 February 2025
While large-scale planned LNG schemes in sub-Saharan Africa have faced fresh problems, FLNG projects are stepping into that space
20 February 2025
Greater social mobility means increased global demand for refined fuels and petrochemical products, with Asia leading the way in the expansion of refining capacity
19 February 2025
The EU would do well to ease its gas storage requirements to avoid heavy purchase costs this summer, with the targets having created market distortion while giving sellers a significant advantage over buyers
18 February 2025
Deliveries to China decline by around 1m b/d from move to curb crude exports to Shandong port, putting Iran under further economic pressure
