Joaquín Gutiérrez Caballero, who co-managed President Abelardo de la Espriella’s 2026 campaign, took over as chief executive of Ecopetrol (BVC: ECOPETROL; NYSE: EC) on Monday, September 28, four days after the board of Colombia’s majority state-owned oil company chose him unanimously. He replaces Alfonso Camilo Barco Muñoz, who had led the company on an interim basis since September 15.

Infobae reported that the career summary provided for his appointment lists no prior experience in the hydrocarbons sector. President de la Espriella set preserving the hydrocarbons business and replacing reserves as the first of two missions for the company, according to the Office of the President.

Gutiérrez’s Background and Ecopetrol’s Leadership Changes

Gutiérrez holds a business administration degree from the Universidad del Norte in Barranquilla, according to El Tiempo. Ecopetrol’s announcement lists postgraduate specializations in telecommunications project management, telecommunications law and healthcare services management, along with business experience in the legal, healthcare, construction, agriculture and cattle sectors.

El Tiempo reported that he worked as an adviser at the Fiscalía General de la Nación (Attorney General’s Office) under then-Attorney General Mario Iguarán, and that he has worked with de la Espriella since 2005. Infobae dates his arrival at the law firm De La Espriella Lawyers to 2006 and says he served as its deputy manager until 2009. According to Infobae, he also owns a residential developer in Bogotá and has invested in a clinic in Barranquilla, and he co-managed de la Espriella’s presidential campaign alongside Carlos Augusto Suárez Rojas. Ecopetrol’s board elected Suárez as its chairman at a September 17 session, according to El Colombiano. Suárez replaced Luis Felipe Henao Cardona in the chair, and Henao remains on the board.

Ricardo Roa Barragán, who managed former President Gustavo Petro’s 2022 campaign, stepped aside as Ecopetrol’s president in April, first on vacation and then on unpaid leave, according to Infobae, and left the post for good on July 30, as Finance Colombia reported. According to that report, the Attorney General’s Office filed an accusation of tráfico de influencias (influence peddling) against Roa on June 9 and a second accusation over 2022 campaign spending limits on August 12, and Roa has pleaded not guilty in both cases. Juan Carlos Hurtado Parra, who served as interim president during Roa’s absence, resigned and left on September 15 under what Ecopetrol described as a mutually agreed retirement plan, according to El Colombiano. Hurtado’s management had come under scrutiny over a 43-minute audio recording delivered to authorities, which opened a new line of investigation into alleged efforts to influence appointments and contracts at Ecopetrol, El Colombiano reported. The board had named Barco, the company’s corporate vice president of finance and sustainable value, as interim chief executive at a September 14 session.

The same period brought the replacement of five vice presidents and a renewed board approved at an extraordinary shareholders’ meeting on September 15, which seated six new directors and kept three from the previous board, according to El Tiempo. The Colombian government held 88.49% of Ecopetrol’s shares as of September 8, according to a Europa Press report published by Infobae.

Exploration and Fracking Top the Agenda

De la Espriella swore Gutiérrez in on September 25 at the Quinta de San Pedro Alejandrino in Santa Marta, at a ceremony the Office of the President called the Renacer de Ecopetrol (Rebirth of Ecopetrol). According to the Office of the President, de la Espriella said Ecopetrol closed 2025 with 1.944 billion barrels of oil equivalent in proven reserves and a reserve life of 7.8 years, with gas reserves covering 6.3 years. He said his government is reopening exploration and the signing of new contracts, including fracking, and argued that the energy transition must be built on a strong Ecopetrol rather than on its dismantling.

In his own remarks, Gutiérrez named exploration and reserve additions, gas supply, strengthening the hydrocarbons business in all its lines, the reliability of the energy system during climate events, and inherited high-impact tax and legal disputes as his core challenges, El Heraldo reported. He opened his speech with an assessment of the company’s situation.

“I assume the leadership of the most important company in the Republic at a moment of crisis, a turning point where there is no room for half-measures or hesitation.”

— Joaquín Gutiérrez Caballero, chief executive, Ecopetrol

Gutiérrez said the company will pursue conventional and unconventional projects and continue offshore exploration, according to El Colombiano. He gave separate figures for the country’s reserves as a whole: “The country faces a narrow energy horizon, with paltry reserves of just 7.4 years in oil and 5.9 years in gas.” He also said Ecopetrol will seek closer ties with the US government: “We will seek important alliances with the United States government to be included among the countries with favorable conditions for doing business, opening doors that allow us to increase oil and gas reserves.” He announced that Ecopetrol will open an alternate headquarters in Barranquilla.

The company will also undergo a forensic audit to verify allegations of looting, El Heraldo reported. El Tiempo reported that Ecopetrol’s production stood at 745,300 barrels of oil equivalent per day in 2025 and that the company invested about $6.6 billion USD that year.

Ecopetrol said in its September 24 release that the board appointed Gutiérrez on a permanent basis and that the choice followed a selection process run by its Compensation, Nomination and Culture Committee under the company’s succession policy. Suárez was named chairman of that committee at the board’s September 17 session, according to El Colombiano. The company listed Gutiérrez’s priorities as value creation, rigorous and transparent management, and closer engagement with the Colombian state, local communities, investors and employees.

Headline photo: Joaquín Gutiérrez Caballero, who took over as chief executive of Ecopetrol on September 28, 2026. (Photo courtesy Ecopetrol)