Colombia's Oil and Gas Reserves Keep Shrinking

For a decade, Colombia's economically vital oil industry has been caught in a death spiral.

A combination of sharply weaker oil prices, rising geopolitical risk and anti-petroleum industry reforms implemented by Colombia's first leftist president Gustavo Petro deterred investment, causing the operational tempo to decline.

The main issue weighing heavily on the oil patch's outlook is a dire lack of proven petroleum reserves.

These are the result of a lack of spending on wildcat drilling and a poor exploration success rate.

After a lengthy delay,…