Photo source: Vanguard
The first concessions for the exploration and exploitation of oil in Colombia were signed by the government in 1905. The first with Roberto de Mares, forerunner of the exploration business in Colombia, which comprised a large area of land to the south of what is now Barrancabermeja. And the second with General Virgilio Barco Martínez, located in Catatumbo (North of Santander). These concessions ended up being transferred to foreign companies, as exploration activities required capital and great knowledge.
The De Mares concession became the property of the Tropical Oil Company (Thing), subsidiary of Standard Oil of New Jersey, known today as Exxon, and the Barco concession was entrusted to the Colombian Petroleum Company, Colpet, y la South American Gulf Oil Company, both subsidiaries of the Gulf Oil Company.
Thus began the true development of the oil industry in our country, in which foreign companies were the ones that contributed the experience and built a large part of the infrastructure that our country has today.
The reversion to the Colombian State of the De Mares Concession, the 25 August 1951, gave rise to the Colombian Petroleum Company Ecopetrol, which undertook activities in the oil chain as an industrial and commercial company of the state, in charge of managing the nation's hydrocarbon resources, and grew as other concessions were reversed.
Currently the state is highly dependent on the international price of oil, so much so that the drop in international prices has a direct effect on inflation, since the income from the international sale of oil represents almost the 6% of the nation's GDP.
The national government must take into account that the income from hydrocarbon exploitation, as well as current reserves, they are limited, generating great concern in the future of the national economy.