News and AnalysIs for

When I read this title in a Portafolio article, I feared the worst. So much so that I took weeks to work up the courage to read it.

We predicted 1Q16 would be complicated for some companies based on our calculations of what Brent needed to be for them to break even.  Still all the companies in our study reported positive EBITDA, at least after adjusting for impairment charges.

Editor’s Note: The Colombian Association of Petroleum Engineers (ACIPET) finds its members at the sharp end of the decline in petroleum investment, especially in exploration.

The dramatically different margins between Transport and Ecopetrol’s other Lines of Business means the profit shift continues. Although E&P and Refining represent nearly 80% of revenues, they represent less than 40% of EBITDA.

Authorities and oil industry associations have been driving home the importance of diversifying the national economy, with many operators taking on strategic projects in influence areas that stress other industries like agriculture or tourism.

Higher oil prices definitely lifted the spirits of Colombia-committed E&P companies and their shareholders felt the same euphoria.

Editor’s Note: Jaime Checa is one of Colombia’s most respected geophysicists. When he speaks the industry listens. Checa is passionate about his profession, his industry and his country.

Brent finished the month of April, 2016 at US$47.37 and briefly was even over US$48 during Friday’s trading. Prices are now back to where they were in late October.

Recently I found myself in Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) explaining the impact of lower oil prices to an audience of telecom managers, the vast majority of them Saudis.

Last week’s announcement of 916 mbd for March production was a shocker but MinMinas said nothing about why it happened. Virtually the next day, April 22, 2016, the ANH published field level detail for January and February (but not, unfortunately, March).