Razon acquires Colombian oil firm

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March 13, 2026 | 12:00am

Deal reportedly worth $1.5 billion

MANILA, Philippines — As the Philippines faces fuel supply uncertainties due to the Iran crisis, richest Filipino Enrique Razon Jr. has sealed a deal to take over the company behind around 10 percent of Colombia’s gross oil output.

Razon’s Prime Infrastructure Capital Inc. has entered into an agreement with private equity group Carlyle to acquire SierraCol Energy Ltd., Colombia’s largest independent oil and gas exploration company.

The transaction, which involves Carlyle’s entire stake in SierraCol, is expected to close this month, subject to customary regulatory approvals.

While financial details of the deal were not immediately made available, Reuters reported that Carlyle had sought about $1.5 billion for the Colombian oil giant.

“This acquisition strengthens our oil and gas expertise and complements our existing asset base in the Philippines,” Prime Infra president and CEO Guillaume Lucci said.

Prime Infra, through Prime Energy Resources Development B.V., operates the Malampaya deep water gas-to-power project, the Philippines’ first and only indigenous gas field offshore Palawan.

“Together, these capabilities position us to operate across the oil and gas value chain – from upstream to downstream, onshore and offshore – and to participate in the sector’s growth against the backdrop of a broader commodities supercycle,” Lucci said.

This was not the first time for Razon, who currently ranks as the Philippines’ top billionaire on Forbes’ 2026 list, to venture into energy abroad, as he also owns a gas-fired power plant in Iraq.

The tycoon is also no stranger to overseas investments, with his trillion-peso International Container Terminal Services Inc. operating at least 34 terminals in 20 countries across six continents.

Market analysts told The STAR that Prime Infra’s entry into Colombia’s upstream oil sector is timely as the Philippines braces for the worst amid escalating tensions in the Middle East.

From a national energy security standpoint, Peter Garnace of Unicapital Inc. said the deal could help the Philippines “significantly reduce” its reliance on oil-producing countries in the Middle East.

“With gross output of 77,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day, SierraCol could supply up to one-fifth of Philippine oil demand, positioning it as the first Filipino-controlled upstream oil producer and a huge strategic buffer in instances of oil crisis,” Garnace said.

The Philippines’ only remaining refinery in Bataan currently sources around 98 percent of its crude oil imports from the Middle East, according to the Department of Energy.

While SierraCol’s output is not sufficient to replace the country’s imports, Marky Carunungan of F. Yap Securities said the Colombian oil firm could provide a “meaningful upstream exposure.”

“Strategically, owning overseas production helps diversify supply away from the Middle East and provides a natural hedge against oil price volatility, especially amid current geopolitical tensions,” Carunungan said.

At present, SierraCol operates two giant fields, Caño Limón and La Cira Infantas, which produce high-quality crude and are connected to key infrastructure and markets.