On Monday, Juan Carlos Echeverry, the new president of
Colombian state-owned oil company Ecopetrol, signed his contract and started
his new job. Portafolio
noted that, over the last month, Echeverry has met with the presidents of other
large oil companies around the world to determine Ecopetrol’s strategy in light
of the crash in global oil prices. Echeverry also visited Ecopetrol’s oil
fields in Colombia and met with the company’s partners and suppliers. Semana
argued that the most important things that Echeverry will need to be a success
are credibility, independence, character, austerity, recruitment, and
leadership.
Echeverry is a leading Colombian economist who previously
served as the head of National Planning and as Colombian Finance Minister. He
takes the helm at Ecopetrol during a very difficult time for the oil company,
as it desperately needs to increase the country’s reserves at a time when
investment in exploration is almost impossible to come by. The Colombian
government is counting on Echeverry to turn Ecopetrol around, but he can’t do
anything about the price of oil.
In other oil-related news, oil transportation halted on
Colombia’s Caño Limón oil pipeline on Monday, the country’s second-most
important pipeline, after an unidentified group bombed
a section of the pipeline in the department of Boyacá. The Caño Limón had
previously been free of attacks thus far in 2015, so hopefully this latest
incident does not signal a return to attacks against Colombia’s oil
infrastructure.
In mining sector news, the Colombian Mining Association will
meet later
this month in April for its annual assembly. The main topics of discussion at
the conference include the future of the global commodities industry, the
relationship between mining resources and public finance, the environment and
environmental management for the mining industry, and competitiveness to
attract investment to the mining sector.
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