News and AnalysIs for

Ecopetrol (NYSE:EC) is by no means the only Colombian oil exporter but it publishes the most detailed statistics and we believe its export patterns indicate how the market as a whole is shifting.

Ecopetrol (NYSE:EC) says that it has spent CoP$13.27T (US$6.27B) on goods and services during the first nine months of 2014, with 93% of that total going to suppliers based in Colombia.

Ecopetrol (NYSE:EC) had set a production target of 819,000boed for 2014, but with its average after three quarters sitting at 754,800boed, the NOC will almost certainly fall short of its goal.

Another quarter passes, and still no decision from Ecopetrol (NYSE:EC) on the future of the Rubiales field. Meanwhile political pressure from an alliance led by the oil workers union (USO) and Senator Jorge Robledo mounts to return the field to Ecopetrol control.

The oil workers union USO has been banging their drums about an Ecopetrol seismic contractor Sismopetrol, who had closed operations and left workers unpaid. Now Ecopetrol (NYSE:EC) has clarified why the work had stopped, and said it will compensate the affected workers.

Ecopetrol (NYSE:EC) management looked to highlight the positive aspects of the third quarter 2014 on its earnings conference call, pointing out that although profits dropped, production increased and attacks on infrastructure has dropped. While the firm will keep its projections for 2014 and 2015 for now, company president Javier Gutiérrez said a review of its strategy will be made towards the end of the year.

Ecopetrol has released its earnings report for the third quarter 2014, which showed a drop in profits for the quarter both sequentially (17.3%) and year-over-year (40.3%). The drop comes due mainly due to the drop in oil prices. The news left the Finance Minister (MinHacienda) Mauricio Cárdenas calling for the NOC to ramp up its production.

Senator Juan Diego Gómez, of the conservative party, wants to hold a debate in the Senate’s Fifth Commission on the issue of fuel quality to analyze issues surrounding Ecopetrol’s (NYSE:EC) refining of fuels in Colombia.

A kind of class action lawsuit, or “Popular Action” has been verified Casanare Administration Tribunal after a public hearing late last week, in which Ecopetrol (NYSE:EC) has been required to install a valve for its natural gas line to the Agauazul municipality.

Problems surrounding an ethanol plant that is to be built by Ecopetrol’s (NYSE:EC) biofuels unit Bioenergy have made their way to the Colombian Senate, and Senate Martiza Martínez wants ECP president Javier Gutiérrez and Bioenergy manager Aleck Santamaría de la Cruz to explain the status of the plant.