Spotlight: Colombia's top oil and gas producers

State-run company Ecopetrol remains by far and away Colombia's leading oil and gas producer, but new figures show that its dominance has declined in 2024. 

According to the latest monthly upstream report published by industry goods and services chamber Campetrol, Ecopetrol's crude oil output averaged 463,000b/d in April, representing 58.6% of Colombia's total. 

The figure compared to 473,000b/d in December, when it made up 60% of overall production.

While Ecopetrol has seen oil volumes fall, independent producers such as SierraCol, Gran Tierra and Tecpetrol have reported increases. 

A similar trend, though less pronounced, can be seen in the natural gas segment. Ecopetrol's median gas production dipped to 1.027Mf3/d (million cubic feet a day) in April from 1.055Mf3/d in December. Its share of the country’s total during the period fell to 69.9% from 70.3%. 

Unlike in the case of oil, Ecopetrol's gas output decline reflects a wider industry swing toward lower production volumes amid dwindling reserves. 

Other companies to report falling gas production this year include Hocol (down 4,000f3/d since December), Canacol (down 4,000f3/d) and LNG Energy (down 2,000f3/d). 

OVERALL PRODUCTION

Colombian crude production in the first four months of this year reached 777,900b/d, up 1% on the same period 2023. 

The figure for natural gas, meanwhile, was 1.459Mf3/d, down 8.5% on the same period in 2023. 

The top five oilfields in April were Rubiales (95,000b/d), Castilla (57,000b/d), Castilla Norte (41,000b/d), Caño Sur Este (39,000b/d) and Chichimene (36,000b/d). 

The leading five gas gas fields were Pauto Sur (385,000f3/d), Cupiagua (139,000f3/d), Cupiagua Sur (111,000f3/d), Clarinete (86,000f3/d) and Chuchupa (82,000f3/d). 

NEW FOCUS

In November, Ecopetrol announced that it would allocate more than 40% of its 2024 investment budget to clean energy as it accelerates decarbonization plans. 

By 2030, the company expects its traditional oil and gas business to account for less 60% of Ebitda, with the remainder to come from low or zero-carbon initiatives. 

At the forefront of the new business model is a focus on clean hydrogen, non-conventional renewable energy generation and natural gas. 

In addition to ramping up gas exploration off the Caribbean coast, Ecopetrol has outlined plans to import the fossil fuel from Venezuela amid fears of an impending shortage.

Following is a list of Colombia's top oil and gas producers in April, according to Campetrol:

OIL

Ecopetrol 463,000b/d (58.6% of total)

GeoPark 57,000b/d (7.2%)

SierraCol 51,000b/d (6.5%)

Frontera 47,000b/d (6.0%)

Gran Tierra 36,000b/d (4.5%)

Parex 32,000b/d (4.0%)

ONGC 28,000b/d (3.5%)

Hocol 19,000b/d (2.4%)

Tecpetrol 12,000b/d (1.6%)

Perenco 11,000b/d (1.4%)

NATURAL GAS

Ecopetrol 1.027Mf3/d

Hocol 148,000f3/d

Canacol 158,000f3/d

Parex 35,000f3/d

LNG Energy 34,000f3/d