Colombia’s Quiet Fields Get a $92 Million Wake-Up Call

Gran Tierra and Ecopetrol ink a $92.4 million deal to revive stalled production in Colombia’s Middle Magdalena Valley using proven recovery tech

5 May 2026

Gran Tierra Energy has agreed to become the operating partner of the Tisquirama block in Colombia's Middle Magdalena Valley, taking an expected 49 per cent working interest under a deal with state-owned Ecopetrol valued at $92.4mn gross. The agreement, announced on 17 March 2026, gives Gran Tierra operational control of fields that have produced well below their capacity for years.

The two fields together produced 2,500 gross barrels of oil equivalent per day in 2025, a low figure relative to the estimated volume of oil originally in place and to historical recovery rates. Gran Tierra projects that output could rise above 13,000 boepd at full development, on the basis of waterflood injection: a technique that pushes water underground to displace oil toward production wells. The company has already applied this approach at the nearby Acordionero field, which sits in geologically similar rock.

Under the financing arrangement, Gran Tierra will contribute $47.1mn net toward the total capital programme over 40 months, effectively covering Ecopetrol's share of early costs in exchange for operatorship. Ecopetrol retains a 51 per cent equity stake.

Gran Tierra says shared water management across all three fields, Tisquirama and Acordionero, will reduce operating costs. The company also expects to use natural gas from the block to generate electricity on site, further cutting per-barrel expenses.

Regulatory approval remains pending. The first operational milestone, sustained water injection, is targeted for early 2027. The contract runs to the economic limit of the fields, offering both parties long-term certainty that is uncommon in upstream oil agreements.

Open questions remain. Oil price movements over the 40-month commitment period, as well as currency exposure in Colombian operations, could affect projected returns. Whether the recovery rates seen at Acordionero can be replicated at Tisquirama under operational conditions has yet to be demonstrated.