Colombia court suspension of Uchuva-2 well threatens energy security, say industry groups

(Reuters) – A ruling from a Colombian court that ordered the suspension of work at a major offshore gas well is a threat to the country’s energy security, industry groups the Colombian Petroleum Association (ACP) and Naturgas said on Monday.

In a court order dated Sept. 11, a judge said activities at well Uchuva-2, on the Tayrona block in Colombia’s Caribbean, must stop after the companies failed to properly consult a local Indigenous community about the operation.

“We cannot allow them to turn the country off with arbitrary decisions,” ACP president Frank Pearl said in a press conference alongside Naturgas president Luz Stella Murgas.

The block is owned between Colombia’s majority state-owned energy company Ecopetrol, which has a 55.6% stake, and Brazil’s Petrobras, which is the block operator and holds the remaining 44.4%.

The ruling represents the latest chapter in Colombia’s long history of tensions between successive governments and Indigenous groups over energy projects, which the communities often say infringe on their rights or threaten their way of life.