Colombia’s energy agenda is facing a major obstacle following U.S. President Donald Trump’s announcement that his administration would impose a 25% tariff on any country purchasing Venezuelan oil and gas.
“Venezuela has been very hostile to the United States and the Freedoms which we espouse. Therefore, any country that purchases Oil and/or Gas from Venezuela will be forced to pay a Tariff of 25% to the United States on any Trade they do with our Country,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
The announcement directly threatens Colombian President Gustavo Petro’s plan to import natural gas from Venezuela, a move intended to alleviate domestic shortages and support his broader transition away from fossil fuels. However, with U.S. sanctions tightening around Venezuela’s energy sector, Colombia faces a critical challenge in securing stable gas supplies for its domestic market.
In February, during a visit to Doha, Qatar, President Petro urged state-owned Ecopetrol SA to explore sourcing gas from Qatar. In a post on X, Petro criticized Colombia’s dependence on a limited number of suppliers, blaming the situation for high gas prices at the pump.
“Colombia is being robbed,” he declared, calling for an investigation into distributors accused of price speculation. His push for alternative suppliers comes as Colombia has historically imported natural gas from the United States and Trinidad and Tobago. The trip to Qatar underscored his administration’s efforts to reduce dependency on the U.S., particularly amid escalating trade tensions, including Trump’s new tariffs on Canada and Mexico, set to take effect on April 2.
Despite Petro’s push to diversify suppliers, Colombia’s plan to integrate its energy network with Venezuela now appears impossible. In June 2024, Ecopetrol’s president, Ricardo Roa, confirmed plans to restore the binational gas pipeline and begin importing Venezuelan gas by mid-2025 to compensate for an anticipated 85 MMscfd deficit in Colombia’s supply. The project, developed in collaboration with PDVSA and Cenit, aimed to reactivate the Antonio Ricaurte pipeline, which has been out of service since 2015.
Initial imports were expected to reach 30 to 50 million cubic feet per day (MMscfd) before increasing to 100 MMscfd. However, with Trump’s new trade penalties looming, Roa has since rolled back the plan, stating that Ecopetrol will not engage in any negotiations or transactions with Venezuela while U.S. sanctions remain in place. This aligns with restrictions imposed by the U.S. Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC).
Colombia faces infrastructure challenges for gas extraction, as a well as a deteriorating security situation with the National Liberation Army (ELN) guerrilla. The ELN persistently attacks the country’s largest crude oil pipeline Caño Limón – Coveñas. Given that the Antonio Ricaurte pipeline remains non-operational, Venezuela has not provided a clear timeline for potential gas exports.
With the Venezuela option effectively blocked, Colombia now faces urgent decisions on how to secure reliable gas imports while maintaining its transition to wind and solar energies.
Petro, who since his 2022 presidential campaign has demonized fossil fuels, has also rejected issuing new domestic drilling licenses, pushing Colombia further toward costly imports to meet its energy needs. However, without a clear backup plan, the country risks exposing its economy to rising energy prices and supply volatility.
Meanwhile, Venezuela remains a crucial oil supplier to global markets, despite U.S. sanctions. Its biggest buyers include China, India, Spain, Russia, Singapore, and Vietnam, with China alone accounting for 68% of Venezuela’s oil exports in 2024. On Tuesday, China firmly opposed the U.S move to penalise countries, accusing the United States of “interfering in Venezuela’s internal affairs”.
The U.S has continued limited imports of Venezuelan crude under a temporary license granted to Chevron, which is set to expire on May 27, 2025. However, Trump’s policy shift has cast uncertainty over the future of these transactions, which could further impact global energy flows.
Trump’s tariff policy is already sending shock waves through global markets, raising concerns over how it will affect key Colombian exports post April 2 – day Trump has heralded as “Liberation Day.” The threat of slapping 25% tariffs on leading Colombian exports – such as flowers, coffee, and textiles – could worsen the budget deficit at a time in which the country has already shuffled four Finance Ministers in three years.
A pivot toward Qatar for energy security may offer a partial solution, but does not address Colombia’s urgent supply gap. Without a long-term strategy, the government remains heavily dependent on diplomatic negotiations between the leftist administration of Petro and Trump White House, the latter increasingly impatient with Colombia over lack of progress with coca eradication. “It’s time to see results,” warned the Department of State.
