Energy Advisor

Karla Schiaffino, senior analyst of Latin America insights at Verisk Maplecroft: “The suspension of Ecopetrol’s fracking pilot project came weeks after the National Authority for Environmental Licenses (ANLA) had approved it. Since then, protests against the project have expanded beyond the local community in Puerto Wilches, in Santander province, suggesting a broader rejection of fracking. For instance, Indigenous communities staged a protest against fracking in Cali on April 22. We do not expect the outgoing Duque administration to be able to comply with the consultation requirements that the community that lives near the project has demanded, leaving the future of fracking in the hands of the next government. Furthermore, the demands from civil society to halt fracking resonate with the hesitancy of the Colombian presidential front-runner, Gustavo Petro, to develop these projects. Over the coming weeks, it is likely Petro will continue to stress the importance of water resources and question the necessity of fracking in order to maximize the political capital that comes with rejecting this practice. In the case of a Petro victory, it is likely that…”