News and AnalysIs for

The fall in prices and a drying market for exploration-related services have hit small service firms particularly hard. But it is the high burden of taxes that could deliver the fatal blow.

Geopark (NYSE:GPRK) said that its production grew 15% in the first quarter of 2016 to reach 22,518boed compared to the previous year, but its revenues suffered from discounts to global prices in Colombia.

The back and forth accusations continue between Pacific E&P management and a group of minority shareholders after the company accepted a restructuring offer from Catalyst Capital, but a new offer from EIG Global Energy Partners has emerged at the last minute.

The National Hydrocarbons Agency (ANH) says that it has detected a significant increase in the buying and selling of E&P blocks, provoked by the fall in oil prices.

Ecopetrol (NYSE:EC) has reorganized its board of directors, with the former Colombian ambassador to Venezuela Carlos Cure taking the role of president, replacing the former Minister of Defense Luis Fernando Ramírez.

Gran Tierra Energy (TSX:GTE) said its production had increased sequentially in the first quarter of 2016 and looks to continue to optimize its drilling and expand its exploration portfolio in the coming quarters.

Ecopetrol (NYSE:EC) once again posted a profit in the first quarter of 2016 of CoP$363B (US$123.7M), as its transport business benefits its bottom line, coupled with cost cutting and a favorable exchange rate.

Facing mounting criticism for cost overruns and poor contracting practices, Ecopetrol (NYSE:EC) president Juan Carlos Echeverry said the NOC is implementing a new strategy for how it purchases goods and services and manages its projects.

Ecopetrol’s (NYSE:EC) former president Javier Gutiérrez defended his actions involving the Cartagena Refinery (Reficar) while at the helm of the NOC, and said without the controls he enacted, the cost could have been worse.

USO president Cézar Loza warned that Ecopetrol (NYSE:EC) president Juan Carlos Echeverry and its board of directors have a plan to dismember the NOC and sell it off like the government did with energy producer Isagén.