Securing the country s long term hydrocarbons self-suf ciency will require the adoption of a new set of advanced technologies such as offshore engineering, enhanced recovery (EOR), production of unconventional hydrocarbons, and environmental techniques suitable for these new types of projects. These technological changes present an opportunity to develop, in Colombia, a new type of advanced oil industry with international projection. To create this new type of industry, we must abandon the traditional extractive model based simply on the bringing to the surface and selling of the raw resource, to become an industry based on the generation of added value and knowledge. This resource-based development model will not only be more pro table but will also give the country independence and autonomy to formulate and execute its energy policies with the national interest as the top priority.