The initiative is a key policy of the government of the leftist president, who seeks to end the South American country's dependence on fossil fuels, while promoting a transition towards clean and renewable energy.
A bill by the Government of Colombia to prohibit oil production with fracking failed in Congress because the initiative was not discussed or approved in the current period of legislative sessions, Environment Minister Susana Muhamad reported on Thursday.
The bill, which was presented to Congress in 2022, is a key policy of the government of leftist President Gustavo Petro, who seeks to end Colombia's dependence on fossil fuels, while promoting a transition to clean and renewable energy.
"It does not sink because there was a discussion in which the honorable representatives voted and decided to sink it, a situation that would have been legitimate and possible obviously within the framework of the deliberations of Congress, it sinks because the president of the Fifth Commission did not put it up for discussion , even though I already had the presentations," said the official.
The debate in Colombia over the development of unconventional energy sources and the use of hydraulic fracturing or fracking is long, with advocates arguing that it is vital for the country's economy and energy self-sufficiency, while critics warn of an environmental catastrophe. .
Oil is the main generator of foreign currency for the Colombian economy through exports, taxes and royalties.
The project will be filed again in the next legislature with the presentation and the document approved in the Senate, the minister assured when requesting that, in the next sessions that begin on July 20, spaces for discussion be opened on the environmental future of the country. and the effects of fracking.
It will be the fifth time that the prohibition of this technique for oil production has been proposed before the Congress of the South American country.
With the arrival of Petro to the presidency, Colombia suspended two pilot fracking research projects in Puerto Wilches, in the department of Santander, developed by the mostly state-owned oil company Ecopetrol and the American company ExxonMobil.
