In a piece of news that should come as no surprise to
observers of Colombia’s oil industry, Colombian state-owned oil company
Ecopetrol announced
that its profits in 2015 should fall by 50% over 2014. The company’s $3.02
billion in profits in 2014 were 43% less than in 2013, so Ecopetrol’s decline
in profitability has been extremely precipitous.
Ecopetrol’s new CEO, the Colombian economist Juan Carlos
Echeverry, delivered the news during his comments to a Congressional
commission. He attributed the dismal profitability numbers to the collapse in
global oil prices. Reuters noted that the Ecopetrol’s profits had already
fallen by 96 year-to-year for the first quarter of 2015, so Echeverry’s
announcement must mean that the company expects its performance to rebound
during the rest of 2015. Echeverry added that Ecopetrol is examining the
possibility of selling some of its smaller oil fields in order to boost the
company’s cash flow.
In related news, Ecopetrol announced
that it would sell its 6.87 percent stake in the Colombian power company
Empresa de Energía de Bogotá. According to Ecopetrol, the company will receive
almost $400 million in the sale. The sale of its shares in EEB is keeping with
Echeverry’s divestment plan.
In mining-related news, the Colombian Justice Department is
continuing the country’s battle
against illegal mining. The department has carried out 1,003 investigations
into illegal mining in the country, of which 767 are still active and 236 have
been closed. In 2015 alone, the Justice Department has investigated 60
different cases of illegal mining.
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