Ecopetrol's Rebirth: A New Leadership Team and Five Priorities for 2026
What changed at Ecopetrol under Gutiérrez and Rojas: new senior team, forensic audit, reserves push, Barranquilla office and transparent procurement.
Between September 24 and 30, 2026, Ecopetrol named a new CEO and renewed key parts of its senior management. The company framed the moves as “the rebirth of Ecopetrol”: restoring stakeholder trust and building a “solid, competitive” company that creates value for all Colombians.
Who Is Coming In
The board unanimously appointed Joaquín Gutiérrez Caballero as president and CEO on September 24; he took office on September 28. On September 30 it approved three more appointments:
- Mónica Jiménez González, Corporate VP of Legal Affairs and General Secretary, who held the same post from 2016 to 2022 and later served as an executive at GeoPark.
- Mauricio Gutiérrez, Corporate VP of Strategy and New Business, with more than 15 years in investment banking, oil and gas and corporate finance.
- Camilo Rojas Castro, Corporate VP of Administration and Services, a former acting Minister of Justice and specialist in procurement and integrity.
Priority 1: Reserves for Decades
Gutiérrez warned that Colombia has reserves of only 7.4 years for oil and 5.9 years for gas, according to El Colombiano, and pledged more exploration across conventional, unconventional and offshore projects.
Priority 2: A Forensic Audit
The new leadership announced a forensic audit of complaints and decisions by previous administrations, giving investors and citizens a verifiable baseline.
Priority 3: Transparent Procurement
Rojas’s office now runs procurement and supply chain “under the highest standards of rigor, transparency, ethical conduct and integrity,” backed by his record in anti-money-laundering policy and IDB-funded projects.
Priority 4: Regional Presence
Gutiérrez announced an alternate Ecopetrol headquarters in Barranquilla to strengthen the company’s Caribbean presence, in line with the board’s mandate to build bridges with regions and communities.
Priority 5: In-House Talent
The board explicitly recognized Ecopetrol’s workers and technical teams as “fundamental” to the rebirth. The new leadership aims to complement that expertise with business discipline.
Why It Matters
Ecopetrol has more than 19,000 employees and accounts for over 60% of Colombia’s hydrocarbon production, runs most of the country’s transport and refining systems, holds 51.4% of ISA, and operates in the United States, Brazil and Mexico.
What to Watch
The next concrete signals will be the forensic audit’s findings, progress on exploration and reserves, the Barranquilla office opening and published procurement rules and results.