Colombia Targets 1 Million Barrels of Oil a Day Again

Colombia wants to recover a figure that for years was one of the main indicators of the strength of its oil industry: producing one million barrels of crude oil a day, something that has not happened in more than a decade.

The Minister of Mines and Energy, Maria Nohemi Arboleda Arango, told local business outlet Portafolio that the government is working toward that goal, at a time when national production stands slightly above 730,000 barrels per day.

The target represents a significant shift in the country’s energy policy — following announcements by the previous administration to begin an energy transition that would gradually move away from crude oil extraction in new fields — and seeks to restore the production levels Colombia last reached in 2015.

Arboleda, who took over the ministry with a mandate to strengthen energy security and attract new investment, has proposed an agenda aimed at reviving oil and gas exploration and production.

Colombia targets 1 million barrels of oil a day again

Returning to one million barrels per day means increasing current production by nearly 270,000 barrels a day. It is therefore not a marginal increase, but rather an effort to recover capacity that the country has progressively lost over the past decade.

The Ministry of Mines and Energy itself currently places Colombian production slightly above 730,000 barrels per day. The figure also highlights the changes that have taken place in the regional oil map: Colombia no longer holds the position it occupied for much of the past decade among South America’s major producers.

“Colombia needs more barrels and more molecules of gas, and that is the criterion we are acting on,” the minister told the outlet, adding that the ministry will activate an Intersectoral Hydrocarbons Committee at the end of September to coordinate mechanisms aimed at overcoming bottlenecks within the existing legal framework.

President Abelardo De la Espriella’s government aims to reverse that trend through increased exploration activity, new investment and the development of existing resources. Arboleda’s arrival at the ministry came precisely amid industry expectations for a change in direction from the policies implemented under the previous government.

Argentina is already producing more than Colombia

One of Colombia’s main challenges lies in Argentina‘s development. Driven by the growth of Vaca Muerta (a massive unconventional oil and gas field located in the Neuquén Basin, in northern Patagonia), Argentine oil production has increased rapidly and already exceeds Colombia’s.

Argentina produced around 856,000 barrels per day in 2025 and continued increasing its output in 2026. The growth of Vaca Muerta has allowed the South American country to become one of Latin America’s main oil hubs, while Colombia faces the challenge of raising its production once again.

The gap could become even wider if Argentina maintains the pace of expansion at its unconventional fields. For Colombia, reaching one million barrels per day again would not only mean recovering a historic level, but also preventing the gap with its regional competitors from continuing to widen.

The comparison is even more significant with Venezuela. According to figures presented for the current regional scenario, the neighboring country produces around 1.5 million barrels per day, more than twice Colombia’s output and well above the target Bogotá is now setting.

Venezuela is also entering a new phase of openness in its oil industry following the agreement reached with the United States in late August, which is expected to benefit the country with the world’s largest oil reserves and which is currently the third-largest producer in Latin America, accounting for 11% of regional production, well behind Brazil, which leads crude oil extraction with 42% of regional production, and even Mexico, which ranks second with 17% of regional production.

The agreement has opened the door to new investments and an expansion of international companies’ operations in the country, while companies such as Chevron are already preparing major investments to increase their production. In this regard, Reuters reported this week that Chevron plans to invest more than US$7 billion in Venezuela over the next five years.

Colombia’s oil and gas reserves today

Colombia faces the challenge of strengthening its energy security amid a sustained decline in its hydrocarbon reserves and production. Gas production is one of the government’s main concerns. Between 2022 and 2025, marketed production fell 26%, from an average of 1.073 billion cubic feet per day to 794.3 million.

Minister Arboleda considers this trend a warning sign for the country’s future energy supply. Colombia currently has proven reserves equivalent to 7.4 years of oil production and 5.9 years of gas production. In addition, official projections place 2026 oil production between 725,000 and 735,000 barrels per day.

Against this backdrop, President Abelardo De La Espriella’s government is seeking to accelerate the development of available resources. The strategy includes increasing production from existing fields, promoting enhanced oil recovery techniques, making better use of gas, and converting contingent resources into reserves and actual production.

These resources represent considerable potential: 2.404 billion barrels of oil and 10.540 trillion cubic feet of gas. For the government, a significant portion of these volumes could reach the market if the time and administrative procedures currently delaying projects are reduced.

The new government’s strategy in Colombia is clear: increase oil production through greater investment and enhanced competitiveness to guarantee the energy sovereignty of a country historically rich in these natural resources.