Colombian senator Jaíme Durán of the Liberal party has called on the leadership of Ecopetrol (NYSE:EC) to explain to the country in detail why the Barrancabermeja project continues to suffer delays.
Company officials held a call to discuss the end of year 2013 results and convince the market that its continued growth over the last five years is sustainable going forward despite operational complexities.
Ecopetrol (NYSE:EC) saw its production grow 4.5% in full year 2013 to reach 788.2mboed, a number which the NOC said suffered due to transport restrictions and blockades in some communities. The company’s net income fell in the same period by 10.8% to CoP$13.35T.
The continued conflicts in the municipality of Acacias and Castilla La Nueva have led to blockades, riots with police and now Ecopetrol (NYSE:EC) has terminated 45 contracts associated with projects in the area.
The Arbitration Tribunal of Bogotá’s Chamber of Commerce sided with Ecopetrol in a prolonged dispute over the formula used to figure payments received from Pacific Rubiales (TSX:PRE) in the Quifa field.
Venezuela’s Minister of Oil and Mining Rafael Ramírez says he is certain that Venezuela will stop buying natural gas from Colombia in August of this year and is nearly ready to start sending gas to Colombia as had been previously agreed.
Recently Ecopetrol (NYSE:EC) gave its annual purchasing strategy presentation to its accredited providers. The chart shows a pie chart of all purchases as well as a breakdown of the Oil Services category.
Community protests accusing Ecopetrol (NYSE:EC) of not holding up to social investment promises took a violent turn over the weekend, with more than 26 arrests and violent clashes between riot police and protesters.
Colombia’s comptroller Sandra Morelli was back making rounds with radio stations this week while visiting Cartagena, criticizing what she says is the “poor planning” which has dogged the Cartagena Refinery (Reficar) project.
Oil producer Equion says it expects net oil production in 2014 to increase slightly to 27,900bd in 2014, compared to 27,000bd in 2013, and addressed accusations that seismic exploration is affecting the environment in Casanare.