News and AnalysIs for

Benchmark oil prices continue their downward slide hurting company results and Colombian government coffers.

While Ecopetrol’s (NYSE:EC) financial results might not be looking so pretty, the NOC detailed its Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) activities and it has been involved in a number of projects mentioned recently in local press. Authorities are also welcoming Colombia’s candidacy in the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI). These and other CSR stories in our periodic summary.

Ecopetrol has released its earnings report for the third quarter 2014, which showed a drop in profits for the quarter both sequentially (17.3%) and year-over-year (40.3%). The drop comes due mainly due to the drop in oil prices. The news left the Finance Minister (MinHacienda) Mauricio Cárdenas calling for the NOC to ramp up its production.

The count stayed flat at 32 this week, well below recent and long-term averages. Guerrilla-initiated activity also dipped slightly.

The USO said that it has been working with the Tesoro de Bubuy community in Aguazul to demand concessions on environmental impact and social investment from Perenco, who has since said it will close the project as a result.

An agreement that required the intervention of the Labor Ministry to negotiate between the operator of the new port project, Impala, and local workers and communities has lifted a 30-day strike which has held up progress on the construction of the new facilities.

It is time for our quarterly look at stock prices and as always we shine a spotlight on Ecopetrol’s market performance.

After defending the decree which restructures the process and deadlines to grant licenses against environmentalists and critics in the Senate, the Minister of Environment Gabriel Vallejo met with members of the oil industry to calm company concerns on the process.

Led by the Finance Ministry (MinHacienda) Mauricio Cárdenas, the central government brought a series of proposals before a joint economic session of congress that it says would increase direct royalties to producing regions to CoP$4.1T (US$1.998B) in 2015-2016 from the previous figure of CoP$1.9T.

President Juan Manuel Santos will leave for his visit to European nations in an effort to raise funds for an eventual peace transition process, but already some advances have been made. The European Union signed 10 international cooperation contracts for missions related to the peace process worth a total of CoP$35B (US$17M).