Ecuador offers its help in cleanup after FARC attack

In the wake of the FARC’s attack on an oil pipeline in southwestern Colombia and the resulting oil spill, neighboring Ecuador offered to help in whatever way it can. Ecuadoran Hydrocarbon Minister Pedro Merizalde told reporters during a visit to the Ecuadoran side of the border, “Ecuador is ready to help when needed. Ecuador is united with its neighbor against these attacks.” Merizalde confirmed that the attacks on Colombia’s oil infrastructure in the Putumayo department have affected neither oil production nor transportation on the Ecuadoran side of the border.

In other oil-related news, Cinmipetrol president Adriana Martínez, at the 2015 International Oil and Mining conference, said that the country’s oil sector is taking too long to move from diagnosing its problems to dealing with them. She said that the industry needs to cut costs immediately to make its operations more viable, and the country needs to provide economic incentives for the country’s largest and most expensive projects.

Colombian state-owned oil company Ecopetrol issued $1.5 billion worth of 10-year bonds in the overseas markets to fund its planned average annual investments of $6 billion to maintain its margins while increasing its oil reserves despite the collapse in global oil prices. S&P and Fitch Ratings both announced that they would give the Ecopetrol securities a BBB rating, which matches Colombia’s investment grade.

Generator company Aggreko sees ample opportunity for expansion in Colombia. Aggreko plans to increase its operations in Colombia, focusing on the country’s mining and oil sectors. The company believes there will be create chance for sales growth from these sectors despite the crises both sectors are currently undergoing.