Colombia received CoP$79 trillion in dividends and other income from Ecopetrol while CoP$87.7 trillion went to cover the accumulated deficit of the Fuel Price Stabilization Fund (FEPC), according to figures presented by Universidad de Los Andes professor Sergio Cabrales.
An embargo by the tax authority DIAN over a CoP$16.4 trillion dispute would leave Ecopetrol with resources to operate for only 23 days, according to an internal company document.
Ecopetrol has named Armando José Cuello Navarro, who served as deputy minister of energy, as vice president of Energy for the Transition, and he will join the executive team no later than Oct. 27.
Fitch Ratings has affirmed Ecopetrol’s top national rating but forecasts that its 2026 production will fall 3%, to 724,000 boepd, on lower gas output.
Ecopetrol has declared void the offers it received to import LNG on five-year terms, saying they did not meet minimum commercial conditions, and says it will strengthen domestic gas output and accelerate Sirius.
Colombia’s vice minister of energy, Armando Cuello, has resigned, and press reports say his next stop is Ecopetrol’s gas business.
Citi has kept Ecopetrol at Neutral with an unchanged US$18 per ADR target, calling the appointment of Joaquín Gutiérrez as president a missed chance to signal independent governance.
Luis Felipe Henao, an independent member of Ecopetrol’s board, has filed a complaint for aggravated insult and slander against Alberto Vergara Monterrosa, the company’s former compliance chief.
Ecopetrol’s board named Joaquín Gutiérrez Caballero president on Sept 24, completing a leadership overhaul in which close allies of President Abelardo de la Espriella now run the company.
The lead graph shows the price of Ecopetrol’s ADR’s (Symbol: EC) from January 1st, up nearly 70% from the start of the year. But then oil prices are up, “thanks” to the Iran War, now a wider Middle East conflict and a favorable change in government.
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