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The president of Ecopetrol (NYSE:EC) has been promoting cost cutting programs that will clip CoP$1.4T (US$465.7M) from the company’s operational costs and help it confront the price scenario profitably.

Ecopetrol (NYSE:EC) says that it has started testing the first units of the Cartegena Refinery (Reficar), and that full operations will start in March 2016.

Ecopetrol (NYSE:EC) grew its profit for the second straight quarter since its first loss as a listed company in the 4Q14, with refining posting a profit and adding a boost. Production has grown yearly, but fell off slightly compared to the previous quarter.

Ecopetrol (NYSE:EC) and Anadarko (NYSE:APC) have announced a hydrocarbons discovery at their Caribbean offshore exploratory well Kronos-1, a development which has the government hailing that its offshore strategy is working while other industry members urge caution as the fruits of the find are still years to come.

While it might not receive the attention as dramatic explosive attacks on pipelines, cable robberies are enough for Ecopetrol (NYSE:EC) to lose nearly 25,000 barrels of oil in 2015 alone. The number of incidents doubled in the last year.

Ecoperol’s (NYSE:EC) current president of the board of directors Gonzalo Restrepo López has stepped aside to join the negotiating team in Havana, with its only independent member Luis Fernando Ramírez taking up his role.

With three months under his belt as Ecopetrol (NYSE:EC) president Juan Carlos Echverry has started leaving his mark on the structure of the NOC as it looks to fulfill its new strategy through 2020, but structural challenges remain strong.

A local paper dedicated a full feature article to explain the hope generated by the El Alcaraván sugar cane ethanol plant announced in 2010 by Ecopetrol’s (NYSE:EC) Bioenergy, and the impact its mismanagement left on the municipality of Puerto López, Meta.

Ecopetrol (NYSE:EC) has withdrawn its participation in a consortium formed to bid on offshore blocks in the Mexico Round 1 just days ahead of the presentation of bids.

Whether talking about the Cartagena Refinery (Reficar) or a planned ethanol plant of its affiliate Bioenergy, Ecopetrol (NYSE:EC) has shown a pattern of failing to keep its costs under control for large scale projects.