Through a motion for reconsideration sent to the ANLA, both companies expressed the reasons why they believe it is not feasible to comply with the requirements requested of them for the exploration of what is considered one of the deepest wells in the country.

In the midst of what is already considered a delayed process to advance explorations of the Komodo exploratory well, Ecopetrol and Anadarko (partners in the drilling project) consider that the requirements requested by the National Environmental Licensing Authority (ANLA) are too high and make the work for the eventual extraction of the hydrocarbon unviable.

Caracol Radio published the appeal sent by Anadarko's legal representative, Alberto Gamboa Azuero, to ANLA's general director, Rodrigo Elias Negrete Montes, in which the reasons why both companies consider the current conditions to be unviable are specified.

To begin with, they point out that in recent years they have made significant investments, thanks to which the pre-operational actions necessary to begin drilling in the well have been carried out. These, they add, were done in a specific time window that offered stable and predictable weather conditions (between November 15 and November 20, 2024).

The document says that these investments took at least two years, during which time the drilling vessel and the land base were fitted out and certified. Goods and services specially designed for this project were also acquired.

“However, due to the unforeseen suspension of the environmental licensing process by ANLA - through Order 5942 of July 26, 2024 -, which caused significant impacts on the Project schedule and resources, it was not possible to drill the Komodo- X1 exploratory well in the time window planned for the year 2024,” they say.

It was on December 17 that the ANLA lifted the suspension of the process, and on December 18 it issued the resolution granting the environmental license for the project. According to Anadarko and Ecopetrol, both actions occurred outside the time periods established by law.

“These terms and conditions not only exceed the regulations applicable to this type of project, but are also incompatible with the best practices of the hydrocarbon industry and, in some cases, they are, it is reiterated, disproportionate and impossible to comply with,” they add.

The conditions they consider unviable:

• The requirement to obtain prior approval of the Specific Environmental Management Plan, as well as the Specific Contingency Plans, is not enshrined in applicable regulation, which significantly hampers the Company's ability to effectively plan the drilling of the Komodo-X1 exploration well and any subsequent wells.
• The classification of benthic habitats and deepwater communities as exclusion zones (where no activities can be carried out) makes this Project, as well as any other offshore project, simply not viable due to the presence of these species in the Caribbean Sea.
• The lack of a legal framework for the approval of the Specific Environmental Management Plan and the Specific Contingency Plan for the Komodo-X1 well and any subsequent wells prevents Anadarko and Ecopetrol from ensuring the availability of the drilling vessel and completing all other pre-operational activities necessary to drill the wells.

With this appeal, the companies are asking ANLA to revoke these conditions. The authority, for its part, has the opportunity to review the terms of the license. If it considers that there is room to withdraw them, the project would be reactivated, while ensuring environmental protection and Colombia's energy security and sovereignty.

Anadarko and Ecopetrol say they presented technical and legal reasons to support why the ANLA should not have convened a Technical Advisory Council (CTC). However, it was decided to convene it, even after the legally established date for doing so. This is how the new conditions for the project were established, which the companies are now requesting to be reconsidered.