Arboleda Named Colombian Energy Minister Amid Blackout Risk
(Bloomberg) -- Colombia’s incoming government tapped electricity industry insider María Nohemí Arboleda as mines and energy minister as dry weather raises the risk of power blackouts in the coming months.
Arboleda, an electrical engineer with a master’s degree in energy distribution and transmission, has three decades experience in the planning and management of energy markets, according to a statement late Monday from President-elect Abelardo de la Espriella’s team. Until now she had been heading power system operator XM SA.
Colombia relies on hydropower for roughly two-thirds of generation capacity which puts it at risk from El Niño, which often brings hotter and drier conditions to the Andean country. That makes the country more dependent on gas-fired plants, which are struggling financially since they are owed hundreds of millions of dollars by an electricity distribution company which was taken over by the current government of Gustavo Petro.
Arboleda will also be tasked with leading a revival of oil and gas exploration. The incoming administration has promised to roll back Petro’s policies which sought to wean the nation off fossil fuels. That led to stalled crude production, and worsened a domestic gas shortfall that is forcing Colombia to import costly liquefied natural gas to supply homes and industry.
The new government, which takes over Aug. 7, will begin reversing Petro’s energy policies immediately after taking office, including by allowing new drilling contracts as well as fracking pilot programs, according to Vice President-elect José Manuel Restrepo. De la Espriella’s administration will also prioritize naming a new board to state oil company Ecopetrol SA so that it can elect a new chief executive officer, according to Restrepo.
Colombia’s gas reserves fell to the equivalent of 5.9 years of production at the end of 2025, near their lowest level in almost two decades. Proven crude reserves are at the equivalent of 7.4 years.
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