Colombia Orders Oil Company To Scrap U.S. Venture Over Fracking Fears

Colombian President Gustavo Petro on Tuesday ordered state-run oil company Ecopetrol to cancel a joint venture with U.S.-based Occidental Petroleum (Oxy), which was expected to produce around 90,000 barrels of oil per day, citing environmental concerns, Manuel Rueda reported for the Associated Press (AP).

Ecopetrol had announced that it would renew its partnership with Oxy in the Permian Basin—an oil-producing region spanning Texas and New Mexico—to develop 91 oil wells. I Photo: Ecopetrol

In a nationally televised speech, Petro criticized the recent extension of the deal between Ecopetrol and Oxy, arguing that it involved hydraulic fracturing, or fracking—a controversial oil extraction technique that has drawn widespread criticism from environmental groups.

“I want that operation to be sold, and for the money to be invested in clean energies,” Petro said in a Cabinet meeting livestreamed on social media.

“We are against fracking because fracking is the death of nature and the death of humanity.”

Ecopetrol had announced that it would renew its partnership with Oxy in the Permian Basin—an oil-producing region spanning Texas and New Mexico—to develop 91 oil wells, investing over $880 million.

The company reported that its projects in the Permian produced an average of 95,200 barrels of oil per day during the first nine months of last year. Operations in the Permian accounted for approximately 12% of Ecopetrol’s total production in 2024.

Ecopetrol, which is controlled by the Colombian government but also listed on the New York Stock Exchange, saw its shares rise by 2% after announcing its deal with Occidental. However, the stock fell slightly following Petro’s call for the agreement's cancellation.