News and AnalysIs for

This year, Halloween falls on a Friday which is when we start to think about what we will write for the weekly essay. We could call this week’s contribution odds and ends or good news / bad news or potpourri or, because it is Halloween…

The SPEC-maintenance crisis has passed and now we can see what happened. We estimate gas supply went down by around 120 GBTUd because, even with all MinEnergia’s efforts to find more gas, there wasn’t enough to plug the hole. That means there was not enough gas for normal demand. Who didn’t get their needs satisfied?

The Permian Basin, one of the most prolific oil fields in the world, has become the epicenter of Colombia’s latest energy debate. Ecopetrol (NYSE: EC), which holds a 49% stake in the Texas and New Mexico-based project through a partnership with Occidental Petroleum (NYSE: OXY), is once again under pressure from President Gustavo Petro, who insists the company should sell its participation and redirect resources toward clean energy.

Ecopetrol (NYSE: EC) announced that its Social Gas Program has now connected 105,115 low-income families across 20 Colombian departments to the natural gas network, marking a major milestone in its efforts to expand clean and affordable energy access.

Colombia’s Ministry of Finance (MinHacienda) approved Ecopetrol’s request to contract a domestic loan of up to CoP$700B (approximately US$175M) with Banco Davivienda, providing the state-owned oil company with additional short-term financial flexibility amid its broader funding strategy.

Parex Resources Inc. (TSX: PXT) has taken a bold step to expand its footprint in Latin America’s energy market by offering to acquire GeoPark Limited (NYSE: GPRK) for US$9.00 per share in cash, a deal that values GeoPark at roughly US$940M, including debt.