Ecopetrol Hands Its Board to a Campaign Strategist as Output Falls

Colombia · Energy

Ecopetrol has changed board chairman twice since July, and its chief executive seat is empty. The newest chairman ran President Abelardo de la Espriella’s campaign strategy.

Ecopetrol’s headquarters in Bogota. The board elected a new chairman on 17 September (Photo: EEIM, CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons)

Ecopetrol’s board elected Carlos Augusto Suarez Rojas as its chairman on 17 September 2026. He had joined the nine-member board only two days earlier, at an extraordinary shareholders’ meeting.

What The Board Decided

The nine directors met on 17 September 2026 and chose Suarez to chair them. Claudia Margarita Lafaurie Taboada was elected vice chair at the same meeting.

El Tiempo reported the choice first, and Investing.com carried it to English-language markets that day. Suarez replaces Luis Felipe Henao Cardona, who had held the chair since late July.

Henao stays on the board and now chairs its corporate governance and sustainability committee. He has described his own spell in the chair as a transitional presidency.

The Ministry of Finance nominated Suarez to the board as an independent member. Ecopetrol had not published a statement from Suarez about his plans by 18 September.

What Ecopetrol does. Ecopetrol S.A. operates as an integrated energy company. It operates through four segments: Exploration and Production; Transport and Logistics; Refining and Petrochemicals; and Energy transmission and Toll Roads Concessions. The Exploration and Production segment engages in the exploration and production of oil and gas. The Transport and Logistics segment is involved in…

Who Carlos Suarez Is

Suarez is a lawyer trained at the Universidad Externado de Colombia in Bogota. He holds specialisations in public management, fiscal control and criminal law.

He founded Estrategia y Poder, a consultancy working in political communication and crisis management. El Colombiano described him as the main architect of De la Espriella’s 2026 electoral and digital strategy.

He is also listed as a co-founder of Defensores de la Patria, the president’s movement. His earlier public sector work includes a post at the Cundinamarca comptroller’s office.

Colombia One reported that he is a personal friend of the president. Gustavo Petro’s own campaign manager, Ricardo Roa, ran the company from 2023 until July this year.

The Shake-Up He Inherits

Ecopetrol announced on 23 July 2026 that directors Angela Maria Robledo and Tatiana Roa had resigned. Semana reported the two were among the board members closest to then-president Gustavo Petro.

Ricardo Roa’s departure as chief executive was confirmed in the same round of changes. Luis Felipe Henao took the chair and Hildebrando Velez Galeano became vice chair.

Velez notified his resignation on 14 September, effective the following day. Juan Carlos Hurtado Parra quit as acting chief executive on the same day.

El Tiempo had published an audio recording that it said involved Hurtado and a Catalan businessman. Henao told El Tiempo he would ask Hurtado for his irrevocable resignation.

Chief financial officer Camilo Barco took the interim presidency on 15 September. No criminal charges against Hurtado have been reported in connection with the recording.

How Bogota Controls The Vote

Colombia’s finance ministry holds about 88.5 percent of Ecopetrol, Semana reported on 15 September. That stake makes any contested shareholder vote a formality.

The extraordinary meeting on 15 September opened with 88.8 percent of shares present. Participation rose to 92.69 percent within two hours, Semana said.

The government’s single slate of nine directors passed with 99.65 percent support. Shareholders also amended Article 20 of the bylaws, which governs board composition and election.

The Ministry of Finance proposed that amendment. About 277,000 minority shareholders hold the rest of the company.

Where The Company Stands

Ecopetrol reported second-quarter net income of 6.1 trillion pesos on 3 August 2026. That is about US$1.9 billion, and it was 235 percent above the same quarter of 2025.

Group earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation reached 17.7 trillion pesos, about US$5.6 billion. Revenue was 40.2 trillion pesos, or about US$12.8 billion, up 35 percent.

Peso figures here use the Banco de la Republica market rate for 18 September 2026. That rate was 3,151.73 pesos to the dollar.

Production fell 6.6 percent to 705,800 barrels of oil equivalent a day. Gross debt was two times EBITDA at group level, and 1.3 times excluding the ISA transmission unit.

Cash stood at 11.3 trillion pesos, about US$3.6 billion, at the end of June. Proved reserves were 1,944 million barrels of oil equivalent at the close of 2025.

The company put reserve life at 7.8 years and the replacement ratio at 121 percent. Refining throughput rose 6.1 percent to 438,500 barrels a day in the quarter.

The Exploration Argument

Petro said in October 2024 that he would not sign new oil and gas exploration contracts. He said signing new contracts would expose children and grandchildren to the total death of the human species.

Abelardo de la Espriella took office on 7 August 2026 with the opposite position. In March 2026 he told an industry audience he would open the door fully to fracking.

Mines and Energy Minister Maria Nohemi Arboleda says Colombia needs more barrels and more gas molecules. Infobae reported on 9 September that the government wants output back at one million barrels a day.

National output was 730,966 barrels a day at the time of that report. The plan starts with unblocking about 270 contracts that already exist.

An intersectoral hydrocarbons committee was due to be activated in late September. Henao put the case bluntly, saying an oil company that does not explore liquidates itself slowly.

What Analysts Say

Alejandro Sanchez of Aval Asset Management spoke to Bloomberg Linea on 17 September 2026. He said the market will watch several pending decisions from the new governance, beyond oil prices.

His list starts with the 2027 investment plan and its exploration spending. It also covers the company’s stance on ISA, staff retention and cost efficiency.

Stock Analysis records eleven analysts with a consensus sell rating on the New York listing. Their average target is US$13.91, well below the 17 September close.

What It Means If You Hold The Shares

Ecopetrol’s Bogota-listed shares closed at 2,730 pesos on 17 September 2026, down 3.7 percent. That is about US$0.87 at the 18 September market rate.

The New York listing, ticker EC, closed at US$17.38 the same day. Each American depositary receipt represents twenty ordinary shares.

The 52-week range for the receipts runs from US$8.57 to US$18.38. Trailing dividends of US$0.65 per receipt give a yield near 3.7 percent.

Dividend policy is set at the shareholders’ meeting, where the state decides the outcome. Holders outside Colombia therefore carry the peso exchange rate and Bogota’s politics together.

What Is Not Yet Known

Ecopetrol has no permanent chief executive, and no appointment date has been set. Bloomberg Linea named Joaquin Gutierrez as a leading candidate on 17 September.

The 2027 investment plan has not been published. The company has not said whether it will sell or keep its ISA stake.

Henao has spoken of a forensic audit into past contracting at the company. Its scope, cost and timetable have not been made public.

Whether fracking proceeds depends on regulation and the courts, not on the board alone. Suarez has not set out a public agenda for his chairmanship.

Frequently Asked Questions

Sources: El Tiempo, the election of Carlos Suarez as board chairman, Ecopetrol relevant information, resolutions of the 15 September extraordinary meeting, Ecopetrol relevant information, the resignation of Hildebrando Velez Galeano, Ecopetrol, second quarter 2026 results, Ecopetrol, proved reserves at the close of 2025, Bloomberg Linea, market expectations for the new board, Semana, the quorum and the state stake at the extraordinary meeting, Infobae, the government plan to return to one million barrels a day