Team size: Eight

How do you approach managing legal aspects during periods of instability or crises, and how does your legal strategy align with the broader business strategy to ensure the organisation’s resilience?

We approach the management of legal aspects during instability or crisis by embedding the legal function into the organisation’s overall risk and crisis management framework. This means the legal team works closely with the executive leadership to proactively identify, assess, and prioritise legal risks that could impact business continuity. We prioritise proactivity, flexibility, and adaptability, allocating resources to focus on critical issues while ensuring day-to-day matters are efficiently managed.

By maintaining open channels of communication with internal teams, external partners, and regulators, we ensure rapid information flow, allowing us to provide tailored legal solutions that support the company’s strategy while maintaining compliance and protecting the organisation’s interests.

Our legal strategy is fully aligned with the broader business strategy to enhance organisational resilience. We do this by continuously monitoring the regulatory landscape, adapting our legal frameworks to support strategic pivots, and ensuring that legal considerations are integrated into critical business decisions. This alignment enables us to not only mitigate risks but also to support the organisation’s long-term objectives, ensuring that the legal guidance contributes to both immediate crisis response and sustainable business growth.

What are the major cases or transactions you have been involved in recently?

The carve out of SierraCol from Occidental Petroleum Corporation transitioning into a Carlyle portfolio independent oil and gas company in December 2020. By June 2021, we issued US$600mn in SierraCol Notes and secured a revolving credit facility (RCF) of US$80mn. In April 2023, the RCF increased to US$120 million. In September 2023, we extended the Rondon association contract with Ecopetrol. In February 2024, we executed an asset purchase agreement with CEPSA for the acquisition of oil and gas contracts in Colombia, with closing occurring in the second half of 2024. In March 2024, SierraCol executed a US$74mn loan agreement with Bancolombia. In January 2025, SierraCol secured a US$40mn loan agreement with Davivienda to partially finance the acquisition of Repsol’s minority interest (25%) in SierraCol Energy Arauca, LLC, which transaction was closed in February 2025. Finally, in July 2025, the company secured a US$45mn loan with Banco de Bogota.

How do you prioritise diversity and inclusion within your legal department, and what initiatives have you implemented to foster a more inclusive and equitable work environment?

With the strong support of SierraCol’s leadership, in 2023, together with 15 SierraCol Energy women, we developed and implemented the Leadership Academy for High Impact Women (ALMA, for its acronym in Spanish). I had the fortune and was proud to be part of the development team.

The ALMA program aims to promote gender equality and provide women with the tools and opportunities they need to reach their full potential. By focusing on education and skill development, ALMA not only enhances the capabilities of women in the workplace but also contributes to the broader social and economic development of the communities involved. So far, 180 women within SierraCol, our contractors, and the community groups have taken the program, and we expect 300 more will be part of it by the end of 2026.