News and AnalysIs for

According to economist Marc Hofstetter, Gustavo Petro’s initiative of installing solar panels in households could lower energy prices, but would it be viable in Colombia?

The Coveñas Caño Limón (CCL) pipeline continues to be the main target of terrorist acts by illegal groups, especially the ELN. Authorities and Ecopetrol (NYSE: ECP) reported new attacks against this important asset.

Social conflict and insecurity affect the development of the oil sector in Colombia. Frontera Energy (TSE: FEC) is having problems of this type in one of its blocks and had to make a transcendental decision.

Francisco Reynés was appointed as the Spanish firm’s new executive chairman and will replace Isidro Fainé, who will remain in the company as honorary president.

The Police and the Attorney General’s Office announced that the gang leaders were captured and one of them was an Ecopetrol (NYSE:EC) contractor. The development of these and other stories in our periodic Security summary.

Colombia is not an oil country, but it depends heavily on the extractive sector in many economic aspects. The National Administrative Department of Statistics (DANE) published preliminary Colombian export figures, highlighting the role of the oil and mining sectors.

Parex (TSX: PXT) announced its 2017 year-end reserves report. The company reported positive results in key metrics such 1P reserves, Reserve Life Index (RLI) and Reserves Replacement Index (RRI).

Geopark (NYSE: GPRK) announced its independent oil and gas reserves assessment for 2017, certified by DeGolyer and MacNaughton Corp (D&M). The company reported consolidated and Colombia reserves growth.

Medellín’s Mayor, Federico Gutiérrez, and the Inspector General, Fernando Carrillo,complained about the NOC’s alleged lack of response to the repeated requests for improvingthe quality of its fuels. The development of these and more stories in our periodic Eco summary.

The Ministry of Mines and Energy (MinMinas) announced fuel prices for February. As expected, these increased and the government found the perfect excuse to justify this behavior.