The arrival of Frank Pearl as president of the Colombian Association of Oil and Gas (ACP) occurs at a complex juncture that ranges from the challenge of advancing a just energy transition and the gradual replacement of fossil fuels, to government announcements regarding a sector that occupies the top line of exports and fiscal revenues.
Ricardo Ávila Pinto @ravilapinto
The saying that life takes many turns could fit Frank Pearl like a glove. After all, just a few years ago, no one could have predicted that this Bogotá native, son of a Canadian immigrant who came to Colombia for love, would hold the presidency of the Colombian Association of Oil and Gas, a position he has held since August 2023.
But, to be honest, taking on challenges in very different sectors is something that characterizes this father of three daughters, who has never lacked passion for doing a job, whatever it may be.
An entrepreneurial student
Those who have known him for a long time remember how, when he was studying economics at the Universidad de los Andes, he looked at the real world while discussions of perfect competition took place on the boards.
That capacity for observation helped him become the great promoter of a business that started in the second semester, back when there was no internet and Colombia was a relatively closed country, undoubtedly much more so than now. The opportunity consisted of identifying the need of a segment of executives to be informed about what was happening in other latitudes and starting to bring in foreign press.
The first step took place with The Wall Street Journal, the most widely read business newspaper in the world, which ended up being quickly embraced by a small audience willing to pay for the privilege of receiving it without delay. Within months, the budding economist found himself having to pick up newspapers at the airport at 4:30 in the morning, take them to an office, label them, and distribute them.
It wasn't long before the portfolio of publications included the finest press, such as The New York Times or the magazines Time, The Economist, and National Geographic. The success was such that Pearl had to suspend his studies for a couple of years while he made his way in the business world and started other ventures.
After such a baptism, which came with the birth of a company that would later remain in family hands until the technological revolution allowed access to any content with just a click, it was quite clear that there was not necessarily a potential Minister of Finance here. In fact, Frank's interests were directed towards financial law and finance, as became clear in two postgraduate degrees completed at the School of Management of the Andes.
And those learnings had to be tested in the labor market, thanks to who was both a professor and vice president of the multinational Dow Chemical: Mauricio Rodríguez. He was the one who spoke to the recent graduate about a vacancy in the financial planning department, which would be the beginning of a career that included areas such as credit and treasury.
After five years, the time came to study a Master's in Business Administration in Toronto. As is usual in the field, months before finishing, Pearl began sending resumes with the aim of dedicating herself to consulting. The affirmative response came from the prestigious firm McKinsey, which offered her a position to continue in Canada.
By coincidence, the entity had decided to open an office in Bogotá, which started with a low volume of contracts. In contrast, there was a need for support in Brazil and later a request appeared in Venezuela, making long trips and stays, whether in São Paulo or Caracas, common.
Hand in hand with large companies
A job to participate in the merger of two sugar mills brought him back to the country, something that involved implementing the chosen strategy. That role more tied to execution ended up being attractive to Pearl, who felt that her days in consulting were coming to an end.
Immediately after, what followed was to delve into the business reality. The complex Colombian reality of the late nineties made a time in Miami advisable, during which another attractive option appeared. At that time, the Santo Domingo family was in the process of reorganizing its investment portfolio, which included dozens of companies from very different sectors, both industrial and service.
Together with a group of professionals, which Frank describes as “brilliant,” the creation of Valorem took place, which included multiple challenges. One of them was that Avianca had to file for bankruptcy under U.S. law, which meant extended periods in New York to meet the court's requirements.
In addition to this, participation in numerous boards of directors was added, as well as defining restructurings or a divestment strategy and its subsequent implementation. Everything pointed to a definitive connection within a solid business group, with interests in different geographies.
However, amidst so many commitments that involved a full immersion in international finance, Pearl began to look increasingly towards Colombia.
The entry into public service
He has in mind having done some pro bono consulting for public entities during his time at McKinsey, after which he wondered what more he could do to support a nation with so many difficulties.
In that inner reflection, a call from Mauricio Rodríguez influenced him, who was already in charge of the newspaper Portafolio at the time, and who invited him one Saturday to a meeting at El Tiempo's facilities with the then deputy director, Francisco Santos, along with other people like Antanas Mockus. From that meeting emerged a group of 25 professionals that would eventually constitute the ‘No more’ movement, which managed to bring 10 million citizens to the streets in protest against the Farc and their actions.
After such mobilization, Santos received the offer to become the vice-presidential candidate of Álvaro Uribe, a candidacy that at the end of 2001 seemed to have little chance of success. At that moment, the still journalist asked Frank to lend a hand in the campaign tasks, but he, half incredulous and busy, replied with a promise: “I can't right now, but if you win, call me and I'll gladly help.”.
Indeed, the call came in mid-2002, after the former governor of Antioquia won the first round. Nothing ended up materializing with the office of the person who would take office as Vice President less than three months later, partly because Pearl was still with his usual job.
However, during a coffee scheduled after the elections, the economist met the already elected president and his wife, Lina Moreno, who asked for help with the thematic organization of her office. That task would end up being carried out by McKinsey, with the enthusiastic participation of Frank, who ended up being part of an advisory council for the first lady's office.
The collaboration brought with it invitations to different parts of the national territory. As Pearl himself says: “I went from being in meetings with investment bankers on Wall Street to going two days later to Chocó, La Guajira, or Putumayo, seeing the harsh living conditions of the people. Living in both worlds produced a very large internal confrontation for me.”.
From that reflection process came an exercise in thinking about how to help the country's development. The idea arose to support a scheme of harmonization between the public and private sectors, which included the participation of Professor Michael Porter.
‘The frying pan by the handle’
At the initiative of four colleagues from McKinsey, they sought the support of recognized entrepreneurs and created the Private Competitiveness Council and the Colombia Competes strategy, which spoke of the need for structural reforms to dismantle various bottlenecks. There was a direct contact between the still businessman and Álvaro Uribe, just when the Court favorably ruled on the constitutional change that allowed presidential re-election.
Weeks later, in Lina Moreno's office, the issue of the reintegration of paramilitaries who had demobilized under the Justice and Peace Law was discussed. The still executive of Valorem dedicated himself to studying the topic on his own, a point that would arise several times until after the presidential elections of 2006.
It was around that time that Pearl received an unexpected call from Uribe, in which the president told him that he was thinking of creating a council attached to the Casa de Nariño, which would be responsible for managing the reintegration of ex-combatants into civilian life and that it should be led by a businessman.
“I told him no, for many reasons,” recalls Frank. “I argued that I was not a politician, that no one would pay attention to me, that I had just had a daughter, that personal finances. In short, no and no,” he recalls. “A week later I had accepted,” he remembers with laughter.
He adds that, “when I made the decision to leave a challenging and comfortable position in the private sector, only one person told me that it made sense to do so, the rest told me I was wrong.” He explains that, “I thought I had an opportunity to put my talent to the service of solving some of the problems that afflict the country.” And he concludes with, “it was not a decision I made with my head, but with my heart.”.
He recounts that for the first formal meeting, whose purpose was to discuss what was to come, he drew on a post-it the image of a frying pan, so that he would not forget that his condition was to have the frying pan by the handle. “I still keep it,” he says.
Among the demands he made were: independence to choose the people, zero interference from politicians, and control of the checkbook, in order to execute the commitments made. “I believe it is the most spectacular job I have had in my life, because it was about fulfilling the needs of 30,000 people, which we achieved thanks to a team of extraordinary people,” Pearl assures.
That first assignment would be followed by another no less complex. By early 2009, the position of Peace Commissioner became vacant, to which another call came from the president of the Republic. “When they offered me that job, I responded directly: if you appoint me, I want to tell you that I will do my job, which is to seek peace.”.
Thus began a series of secret contacts with the Farc and later with the Eln, which did not bear fruit as much due to the complexities of reaching an understanding with the guerrilla groups as due to the pressure of time.
However, those approaches would end up being key, at least regarding the first organization. “I was in my office of High Commissioner for Peace, the day after the 2010 elections, when I received a call from the then elected president, Juan Manuel Santos, with whom I had not spoken for a long time and wanted me to update him on what had happened in the issues under my charge,” recounts the former commissioner.
A brief pause
After Uribe's administration ended, a close collaborator decided to fulfill a long-held dream and take a sort of sabbatical in Boston, studying for a master's degree at Harvard University. Beyond the distance, there were occasions to return to Bogotá to examine and give advice on a process that was just in its preliminary stages.
Back again and when the option to return to the private sector was on the table, Frank received another call from the Casa de Nariño. During the coffee that followed the call, President Santos mentioned that he had just split the Ministry of Environment and the Ministry of Housing, for which he needed someone to design the scheme for the former and put it into action.
Being a minister, and of that portfolio, was not on Pearl's radar, who, after some persuasion, decided to get to work, with the commitment that as soon as the negotiation with the Farc began, he wanted to be involved. Once the deal was closed, it was time to play with two hats: one public and the other secret.
From his time at the entity, he proudly remembers Colombia's fundamental contribution to the Sustainable Development Goals, later adopted by the United Nations. “The idea came from Paula Caballero, who worked at the Foreign Ministry,” he adds.
On the contrary, not being able to reform the Regional Autonomous Corporations left him with a great feeling of frustration. “We couldn't with the political class,” he says. Still, the National Environmental System and the institutional scheme that operates today were put into motion.
The path to peace
That stage would end when the willingness for a negotiation with the Farc was made public, which involved moving to Havana and leaving the cabinet. Months later, there would be an approach with the Eln, which required going back and forth.
What comes next in the story is known. The vote to ratify the agreements with the Farc ended in a defeat for the Government, after which came a renegotiation and the signing of the texts at the Teatro Colón.
However, the divisions between “yes and no” persisted, and marked the evolution of Colombian politics since then. For Pearl, it is impossible to remember what happened without regret, given the conviction that a unique opportunity was lost.
By that point, his role was to work with entrepreneurs to examine and follow up on the established commitments. Constant dialogue and closeness led several heads of the private sector to convince someone with a successful career in the business and public world to run for the Presidency of the Republic.
Frank Pearl maintains that he took on the challenge with seriousness and realism, supported by the conviction that peace deserved a chance. Over five months, he traveled the country, participated in debates, and put his best effort into collecting more than half a million signatures to make a citizen-origin project viable, which included a digital review system for them.
Despite this, the National Registry would end up concluding that there was not the required minimum number. This pronouncement would end the illusion of building a different Colombia. “I do not regret having tried,” emphasizes Frank.
Among the lessons he says he has learned, he highlights the importance of public service, although he clarifies that it must have limits to be effective. He adds that he understood that no one saves the world alone and that strengthening institutions is key to achieving change.
And, finally, he maintains that “we must learn to live with frustrations, without resigning ourselves to the fact that transformations do not happen.” “As John Kennedy said, true revolutions happen when there are gradual changes in institutions over time,” he emphasizes.
After more than a decade of involvement in the Executive power; what came next, in 2018, was not easy. “We were marked as having worked for peace and ended up being the object of a persecution that could well be described as childish, but which was actually persistent and relentless and involved warning from the Government to those who had business relationships with us about the inconvenience of these.”.
Although more than one friend advised him to leave Colombia, he decided to stay. He maintains that this time served him to learn more about human nature, the ephemeral nature of power, and the importance of preserving principles.
A new air
Regarding work, he was linked to a couple of companies of which he was a shareholder and dusted off his consulting knowledge, in which he successfully performed in other countries. “I reinvented myself again, always finding support from my family and true friends,” he states.
And that reinvention led to the offer from the Colombian Association of Oil and Gas to replace Francisco Lloreda, who retired from the guild last August after nine years of work. He accepted with the conviction that “the guilds can help contribute significantly to the main challenges that Colombia faces, if we embark on a long-term agenda that transcends many governments.”.
Regarding the specific challenge, he emphasizes that he decided to take it on “because I believe this is a sector that is cornered on many fronts: legislative, regulatory, environmental, social, security, and it requires contributing to defining the just energy transition that is not defined anywhere in the world.” He states that “there is an opportunity to utilize the talent, capabilities, and resources of an activity that is strategic and key for Colombia, which must transform Colombian regions especially to bring the State and create formal alternatives that compete with illegal economies.”.
The new commitment undoubtedly occurs in a complex context that ranges from the energy transition and the gradual replacement of fossil fuels to the announcements of Gustavo Petro's administration regarding a segment that occupies the top line of exports and fiscal revenues. He recalls that having worked in the Ministry of Environment helped him understand “that radical visions from any side are generally very inconvenient and what needs to be done here is to seek a balance.” He adds that “every human activity has an impact and the goal is to carry out those that are profitable and generate social value.”.
In this regard, he claims that he is excited about the challenge of learning and building points of encounter. Like few others, he is able to read a balance sheet perfectly and understand the business perspective, something he complements with a great knowledge of the territories where the extractive industry operates and a sharp vision of what is happening in the country.
Just as he can sit down with the highest-level official, the congressman, or the mayor, he is also drawn to conversing with the worker who is at the drill or with the member of the community action board who asks for help for his territory. “Together we will transform this country,” he concludes.
Colombian Association of Oil and Gas