Colombia on Tuesday denounced Ecuador’s decision to sharply increase pipeline fees for Colombian oil as the dispute between the Andean neighbors intensified into a broader trade conflict.
Energy Minister Edwin Palma said Ecuador’s move is a “new aggression against the people,” a statement made as Colombia sought to respond to Ecuador’s latest economic step. The complaint came after Ecuador announced that it would raise charges for Colombian companies using its oil pipelines.
Ecuador said Monday that the fees would rise tenfold, increasing the rate from $3 to $30 per barrel. The change would make it harder for Colombian oil companies to use a pipeline that takes oil from western Ecuador and southwestern Colombia to ports along the Pacific Ocean.
One company likely to be affected is Colombia’s state-run Ecopetrol, which uses the pipeline to move more than 12,000 barrels of oil per day, according to the report. Colombia’s energy ministry framed the fee hike as a new escalation in a widening conflict.
The pipeline move followed days after Colombia suspended electricity sales to Ecuador. Ecuador relies largely on hydroelectric power and suffered serious power outages in 2024 after a period of dry weather, the report said, describing the electricity cutoff as a major blow.
The two countries’ trade war began last Thursday when Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa announced a 30% tariff on Colombian imports, with the tariff set to start in February. Noboa described the tariffs as a “security tax,” and said on social platform X that Colombia was not taking “firm actions” to fight drug cartels operating along their shared border and sending cocaine to Ecuador.
Noboa said the tariffs would remain in place “until there is a true commitment” by Colombia to fight drug trafficking and illegal mining. Colombian officials dismissed the accusations, saying record numbers of cocaine seizures have taken place under President Gustavo Petro, while production continues to reach all-time highs.
Colombia responded last week with its own 30% tariffs on many Ecuadorian imports, including rice, sugar and car tires. On Tuesday, Colombia’s Minister of Commerce said tariffs could be applied to other goods not yet hit by the measures.
In a Tuesday statement, Colombia’s Foreign Affairs Ministry said it will seek a meeting with Ecuador counterparts this week to “assuage tensions” and roll back tariffs. The ministry said in the statement that Colombia prioritizes dialogue and solutions that avoid impacting communities and businesses.
The report said trade between the two countries was worth about $2.3 billion last year, with Colombia sending about $1.7 billion in goods to Ecuador. It also said Ecuador has about one third of Colombia’s population.
Against the backdrop of the economic fight, the report said Noboa’s critics have argued the president is trying to find someone to blame for Ecuador’s security problems. It cited figures published by Ecuador’s Interior Ministry showing a homicide rate of 50 murders per 100,000 residents in 2025, described as the highest in the country’s recent history.
The report said Ecuador’s homicide rate has quintupled since 2020 as drug gangs from Mexico, Colombia and elsewhere battle for control of the country’s ports. It said Ecuador—home to the Galápagos Islands—has become a major transit point for cocaine produced in Colombia and Peru.