News and AnalysIs for

The Ministry of Mines and Energy (MinMinas) says that gasoline prices will stay at current levels while diesel experiences a small decrease, blaming factors such as a high price of ethanol and taking noticeable shift in tone since last month’s reduction.

Former Colombian Central Bank head, Miguel Urrutia published a spirited defensive of high gasoline taxes. It appears the Colombian government is listening.

Despite the well-documented glut of oil in the US – which has (depending on viewpoint) contributed or caused the dramatic fall in oil prices since mid-2014 – Ecopetrol (NYSE:EC) actually increased its exports to the US in 4Q14.

Both national and local leaders have taken to talk of an opportunity to strengthen other sectors outside of oil and create a more diversified economy, and many planned projects, including a micro-refinery in Meta, will have to be reconsidered. These and others stories in our periodic review of the impact of the fall in oil prices.

The association of propane gas distributors Gasnova reiterated its alarms that Ecopetrol (NYSE:EC) is taking measures to limit the supply of propane gas in Colombia to benefit its financial results, which it says will have a grave impact on the poorest populations in the country.

The Network for Tax Justice has filed a lawsuit to anull the Ministry of Mines and Energy (MinMinas) resolution that defines the formula used to determine the country´s fuel prices.

The low price of oil is putting Colombia’s biofuels industry and future investments for it at risk says the National Federation of Biofuels (Fedebiocombustibles), although Ecopetrol’s (NYSE:EC) biofuel unit Bioenergy says it will move forward will an expansion of sugar cane crops for fuels and a long delayed plant.

The graph shows Ecopetrol’s attributed Net Income to its Refining and Petrochemicals line of business for the full year 2014 and prior years. The good news is that things are not as bad as last year. The bad news is fairly obvious: it still lost nearly US$450M.

The price of fuel in Colombia fell for the fourth straight month, but the Ministry of Mines and Energy (MinMInas) says that a weak peso against the dollar continues to keep the fall modest.

In an apparent effort to avoid a truckers strike and ward off critics of its fuel pricing policy, the central government made a surprise announcement to cut both diesel and gasoline prices by CoP$300 (US$0.12), bringing gasoline to its lowest level in almost five years.