News and AnalysIs for

Ecopetrol (NYSE: EC), is at the center of a storm after revelations surfaced regarding a US$5.8M contract with US law firm Covington & Burling.

I wrote reluctantly about Colombia’s apparently scandal-ridden NOC just two weeks ago. Reluctantly because I rarely find scandals to be strategic. I hoped I would not have to do it again this year. But independent board member, Monica de Greiff, resigned this past week and the press assumes that CEO Ricardo Roa will leave shortly.

Mónica de Greiff has submitted her irrevocable resignation from the Board of Directors of Ecopetrol (NYSE: EC).

Alejandro Ospina, president of Colombia’s Oil and Energy Industry Workers Union (Utipec), raised serious concerns about the current state and future of Ecopetrol.

In a major move to accelerate its energy transition strategy, Ecopetrol (NYSE: EC) announced that it had successfully finalized a deal with Statkraft European Wind and Solar Holding AS, a subsidiary of the Norwegian state-owned energy company Statkraft, to acquire its entire renewable energy portfolio in Colombia.

Ecopetrol (NYSE: EC), Colombia’s largest company and one of Latin America’s most relevant energy firms, sits at the crossroads of value and volatility.

Ecopetrol (NYSE: EC), in partnership with Invercolsa and its subsidiary Alcanos, signed an agreement with the Department of Cundinamarca to deliver natural gas to more than 220 low-income households across five municipalities in the region: Ricaurte, Fusagasugá, San Antonio de Tequendama, Silvania, and Tena.

At a time when Ecopetrol’s (NYSE: EC) profits are declining and the possibility of importing Venezuelan gas remains uncertain, PDVSA Colombia has not only received millions from Colombia’s state oil company but is now asking for even more.

Ecopetrol launched a new Produced Water Treatment System (STAP) in the Acacías Station, with a capacity to process 120,000 barrels of water per day.

We used to think that the Petro government and its Ecopetrol leadership were no more subject to scandals than any other Colombian government we have observed at close range. They’re not. They’re definitely worse. What implications (if any) for the industry, and those doing business with Ecopetrol?