Oil without People, a Strategy that Needs to be Changed in a Social State under the Rule of law

This article is based on a review of the history of oil exploration and production in Colombia during the past hundred years, characterized as an activity whereby the lands inhabited by ancestral native and peasant communities are invaded. It proposes a reflection on what should be the role of engineering should be in the humanization of the oil and gas activities. The goal here is to respect the territorial and cultural patterns of the communities who live in the areas of influence of hydrocarbon projects, proposing that this is a necessary condition for the quest and achievement of environmental sustainability.