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.
Ecopetrol (NYSE:EC) president Juan Carlos Echeverry said that the firm does not see short term relief in the price of crude, and that it will continue “in crisis mode” for the foreseeable future, even for the next five years.
Repeated calls for action from national authorities from Barrancabermeja politicians and residents earned them a meeting with Ecopetrol (NYSE:EC) president Juan Carlos Echeverry. The NOC chief did not budge on decisions to not modernize the city’s refinery, but said it remains a strategic asset for the firm.
A sharp drop in attendance and calls of protest were two of the main takeaways from Ecopetrol’s (NYSE:EC) annual shareholder meeting held last week. Minority shareholders protest as the board of directors vote to not pay dividends this year. The NOC says it needs a US$50/barrel fuel price to reactivate shuttered fields.
Ecopetrol’s president Juan Carlos Echeverry offered a spirited defense of the Cartagena Refinery (Reficar) and its modernization at the recent Congress of the Colombian Natural Gas Association (Naturgas), highlighting that despite the bad press, the project moves forward and is nearly 100% operational.
A letter submitted to congress from the Finance Ministry (MinHacienda) detailing the government’s stake in Ecopetrol (NYSE:EC) and another 29 state owned firms sparked alarms form the recently launched “United for Ecopetrol” as proof the government plans to privatize the NOC. The ministry said it is a routine and legally mandated letter submitted each year.
Unwavered by a formal decision to suspend the modernization of the Barrancabermeja Refinery by Ecopetrol (NYSE:EC), city authorities and unions continue to call for the project. The refinery management has denied rumors that it is currently unsafe and defended the NOC’s priorities.
Ecopetrol (NYSE:EC) says that a group of community members protesting a new hiring system –- an alternative to the notorious Community Action Committees (JACs) –- have turned violent and forced contingency measures at the Coveñas port.
Although it has served as a lightning rod for government criticism in Barrancabermeja, Santander, Ecopetrol’s (NYSE:EC) board of directors gave a definitive suspension to plans to modernize the city’s refinery in the 2016-2020 strategic plan.
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