News and AnalysIs for

Ecopetrol’s (NYSE:EC) board of directors have added three new members which have been designated to replace Roberto Steiner, Jorge Pinzón and Gustavo Carvajal.

According to figures from the Colombian Chamber of Oil Goods and Services (Campetrol), the oil industry has contributed nearly CoP$215.9T (US$72.2B) since 2006, and this demonstrates the importance of the industry and its financial health.

Colombia has been relatively successful in attracting investment to its oil industry over the last few years, and this seen in the signing of US$12.15B with the National Hydrocarbons Agency (ANH), but its president Orlando Velandia said that to see this capital materialize, greater management is needed from the government.

The Cartagena Refinery (Reficar) will not start to show profits until 2017, 18 months following the operational launch of the facility, and something similar is expected for Ecopetrol’s (NYSE:EC) Bioenergy biofuels plant as well.

Ecopetrol (NYSE:EC) President Juan Carlos Echeverry said that gas production in Colombia must address the coming “valley of death”, the period between the decline of current producing fields and the entry of production from Caribbean offshore.

Here is the second installment of Norton Rose Fulbright’s analysis of the ANH’s draft accord. We believe this could transform the regulatory framework for the industry significantly. In this installment, NRF looks at Articles 5 through 9.

In a contrast to the largely positive coverage of the “end of the war” from international press, there is at least one report pointing out that things could get more difficult for the industry in the post conflict era.

The Minister of Mines and Energy Germán Arce said that the Caribbean region has the greatest prospectively for both onshore and offshore exploration of hydrocarbons, and represents the future of the industry.

The USO said that it is advising and accompanying a group of 14 communities in protests against Ecopetrol (NYSE:EC) in Orito, Putumayo.

Our quarterly look at Ecopetrol (NYSE:EC) Line-of-Business (LoB) results usually focuses on comparatives. But the real story in 2Q16 was the increase in EBITDA from the E&P business.