Petrobras and Ecopetrol have completed a major deepwater exploration campaign in the Colombian Caribbean, strengthening the geological understanding of the region and highlighting the growing importance of the Caribbean as an offshore energy frontier.
Petrobras and Ecopetrol have announced the completion of a two-and-a-half-year deepwater exploration campaign in the Colombian Caribbean. The programme included the drilling of five exploration wells and approximately US$1 billion in investment, representing a major exploration effort in one of the region’s emerging offshore provinces.
The campaign was conducted under the GUA-OFF-0 contract, operated by Petrobras with Ecopetrol as partner, and has contributed significantly to the understanding of the gas potential of the Colombian Caribbean.
The scale and technical complexity of the programme reflect the challenges of exploring a deepwater frontier, while the results provide new geological information to support the evaluation of future exploration and development opportunities.
From Colombia to the wider Caribbean
The announcement comes just weeks ahead of the Second EAGE Conference on Energy Opportunities in the Caribbean, taking place in Port of Spain, Trinidad & Tobago, from 11–13 November 2026.
The latest developments offshore Colombia provide a timely backdrop for the conference’s regional perspective, bringing together exploration and production experience from across the Caribbean, including Colombia, Trinidad & Tobago, Venezuela and the Guyana–Suriname Basin.
Colombia’s offshore experience will feature prominently in Session 10 – Production Present Highlights and Future Plans and Challenges: Guyana/Suriname Basin, Trinidad & Tobago, Venezuela and Colombia, on Friday, 13 November.
Antonio José Velásquez, Offshore Exploration Manager at Ecopetrol, will present:
“DHI Driven Exploration – Geological Setting and Caribbean Offshore Exploration Historical Perspective”.
He will be followed by Juan Carlos Mosquera of Petrobras Colombia, providing a complementary operator perspective on the Colombian offshore exploration experience.
The session will also feature perspectives from Shell and BP, linking frontier exploration with the challenges and opportunities of mature offshore basins. It will conclude with an open panel discussion bringing together the different operator perspectives.
A growing Caribbean offshore opportunity
The Colombian campaign illustrates the scale of technical expertise and investment required to explore the Caribbean’s deepwater frontier. More importantly, it adds to a growing body of geological knowledge across the region.
As exploration progresses in Colombia, Guyana, Suriname, Trinidad & Tobago and Venezuela, the Caribbean is becoming an increasingly important setting for discussions around subsurface characterisation, exploration risk, technology, capital and future offshore development.
The Second EAGE Conference on Energy Opportunities in the Caribbean will bring these perspectives together, providing a technical forum to examine the opportunities and challenges shaping the region’s evolving offshore energy landscape.
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