Crude attracts an FDI of 2,300 million dollars to Colombia

After the Minister of Mines in Colombia, Irene Vélez, said that the oil and gas exploration contracts will be suspended, the Ministry of Finance, through Public Credit, indicated that “this is not a decision made”; and finally, President Gustavo Petro, said that the current contracts will be respected; but it is pending that he himself say whether or not new exploration titles will be granted.

The biggest question that arises at the moment is: when will the transition or replacement plan for these sectors (hydrocarbons) in the economy be known? It is precisely a key player in Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), employment, GDP, inflation and even the dollar, since 3 out of every 10 dollars that arrive in the country for foreign sales are directly from exports of oil and its derivatives; a figure that reaches 4.6 out of every 10 dollars if coal exports are added. Investments by companies in the sector (702 million dollars) are expected only for 2023 and these would be resources that would only arrive if there is a clear situation regarding the future of many fields and projects. This figure shows the relevance of FDI, which to make it clearer depends on 70% of the mining-energy sector.

According to the Bank of the Republic, in 2022 11.320 million dollars entered this account, of which 8.164 million dollars were from oil and mining; that is to say, 7 out of every 10 dollars that it receives in investment from the country would be in we will see for the future. Until the December results are known to complete the consolidated results for 2022, it is estimated that last year this sector captured close to 36% of foreign sales.