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СпутникиРНSpaceXРоскосмосNASAOn 21st June, conservative, Trump-endorsed presidential candidate Abelardo de la Espriella won the election by just 1 per cent over Iván Cepeda, who was expected to take over the Socialist Party leadership from current President Gustavo Petro. He will be sworn in as president on 7th August, after which we can expect significant changes across the board. Petro, who was considered Colombia’s first leftist leader, brought about major change during his time in power, overhauling the country’s tax and health systems and supporting…
On 21st June, conservative, Trump-endorsed presidential candidate Abelardo de la Espriella won the election by just 1 per cent over Iván Cepeda, who was expected to take over the Socialist Party leadership from current President Gustavo Petro. He will be sworn in as president on 7th August, after which we can expect significant changes across the board.
Petro, who was considered Colombia’s first leftist leader, brought about major change during his time in power, overhauling the country’s tax and health systems and supporting a green energy transition. He also attempted to broker peace deals with organised criminal groups, largely to little avail. De la Espriella, known as “The Tiger”, has promised a different approach, with plans to target criminals and build 10 mega-prisons, mimicking the policies of El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele. While Bukele has been successful in lowering the country’s homicide rates, many have criticised the leader for committing human rights abuses.
While De la Espriella’s focus is expected to be primarily on reducing crime and violence across Colombia, he is also expected to carry out change in key sectors, including energy. During his Presidency, Petro was vocal about climate change and the need to transition away from fossil fuels. Petro drew up an ambitious plan to make Colombia less dependent on fossil fuels, which focused on economic diversification, renewable energy, greater democratic control over energy systems, and environmental protection.
Petro put Colombia well on its way to achieving greater energy and economic diversification, with non-mining, non-energy exports contributing 52.6 per cent of the total and overtaking mining and energy exports for the first time in at least a decade in 2025. In addition, from 2022 to 2026, Colombia’s renewable energy capacity increased from 200 to 3,600 MW.
Colombia’s oil reserves are declining, making the diversification of energy sources key to ensuring energy security. In recent months, Petro has strongly supported international efforts to tackle climate change and support a global green transition. In May, Colombia held the First Conference on Transitioning Away from Fossil Fuels, which it co-hosted with the Netherlands in the Colombian city of Santa Marta, at which Petro demonstrated Colombia’s dedication to post-fossil development.
However, the significant shift from Petro’s leftist party, the Pacto Histórico, to De la Espriella’s far-right approach is expected to halt much of Colombia’s climate progress, as the country reverts to dependence on fossil fuels just four years after it committed to a green transition. Many expect De la Espriella to drive the redirection of Ecopetrol, Colombia’s largest oil company, toward hydrocarbons and support faster permitting for energy projects.
As part of his electoral campaign, De la Espriella pledged to exploit fossil fuels to the fullest extent. The economic concerns of recent years have prompted many to support more drilling to bring in vital revenues, as the country’s deficit reached 6.4 per cent in 2025, the highest since the pandemic. Meanwhile, oil, gas, and coal continue to contribute around 5 per cent of Colombia’s GDP. Nevertheless, Colombia is not considered an oil major, with just 0.1 per cent of the world’s proven reserves. This means that if De la Espriella pursues an extraction agenda, he must consider the inevitable decline in the country’s oil reserves.
While some see oil production as key to economic growth, not everyone feels the same way. In the major oil-producing regions of Barrancabermeja and Puerto Wilches, people overwhelmingly supported leftist candidate Iván Cepeda, who won 60 per cent of the vote. After years of exploitation, people in these areas have seen the dramatic impact of oil production on the environment, with ongoing concerns over issues such as water pollution.
Much like President Trump, De la Espriella has pledged to rapidly issue a wide range of decrees rolling back the policies of the Petro government. Former environment minister Susana Muhamad believes, “The new government will probably repeat the pattern set by former presidents Álvaro Uribe (2002-2010) and Juan Manuel Santos (2010–2018), who championed the so-called ‘mining locomotive’ as one of the economy’s main engines.”
Muhamad explained, “They’ll grant permits for extraction and loosen environmental regulations. During the campaign, they even talked about scrapping the national authority of environmental licences (ANLA), the body that oversees the country’s highest-impact projects.” Muhamad expects influence from President Trump to play a role in the new government’s energy and environmental agenda.
While De la Espriella will likely attempt to follow in Trump’s footsteps by overturning the former government’s policies, which were aimed at achieving a green transition and shifting away from fossil fuels, getting new policies through Congress, where the left still holds 68 seats, could be complicated. Policies in certain areas, such as fracking and environmental licensing, cannot be repealed by executive action and must go through Congress. Nevertheless, we can expect De la Espriella to strongly support fossil fuel production, likely at the expense of recent climate progress.
By Felicity Bradstock for Oilprice.com
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