ACP as a source of information
Source: technocio.com – National
Date: January 20
Headline: Investment in IT is key to the digital transformation of the Oil & Gas sector
The technological advances of recent decades have produced significant changes in the exploration, extraction, production, and transportation of hydrocarbons, which have transformed processes, making them more efficient, safer, and more environmentally friendly, as better information and greater tools are available to create more favorable conditions for the development of the Oil & Gas sector in Colombia. (…) For the Colombian Petroleum Association (ACP), investments in Colombia increased 28% during 2018, and for the second consecutive year, investment is rising, and a path of growth and recovery is perceived. Similarly, unconventional developments in hydrocarbon extraction are increasing according to a report from the Austral University; in May 2019 alone, it reached 43.42 million cubic meters per day, a 37% increase compared to the same month in 2017, indicating an improvement in productivity, reducing costs.
Source: paisminero.com – National
Date: January 21
Headline: The country would produce 900,000 barrels of crude this year
The estimate was made by OPEC for the 2020 period. The good results that have been presented so far by the country's oil reactivation are already generating optimistic estimates from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC). (…) Looking ahead to the oil operation of 2020, the president of the ANH emphasized that the task will focus on ensuring hydrocarbon self-sufficiency and improving the level of proven national reserves. (…) “The country has managed to maintain a production level close to 900,000 bpd, but it is not guaranteed for the future. Hence the importance of ensuring that the reactivation is sustainable. This will only happen if the relevance of hydrocarbons for Colombia is understood, and if the State, in unison, decides to overcome the structural obstacles that we still have. Measures have been taken in the right direction, but our competitiveness is still fragile,” said Francisco José Lloreda, president of the Colombian Petroleum Association (ACP).
Guild
Source: La República
Date: January 21
Headline: Ecopetrol and Sura, the most attractive stocks for analysts
The Financial Opinion Survey conducted by Fedesarrollo, in which the entity consults the economic projections of financial analysts and portfolio managers, revealed the three stocks they consider most attractive among those that make up the Colcap index. Compared to December, a greater appetite was evident among the surveyed investors for stocks in the energy, holdings, and oil sectors. (…) Regarding the sectors, Moreno stated that “the most importance is given to holdings, the financial sector, and oil, and the reason is that the former are very solid companies, and it is the time to buy triple A companies. The financial sector because the outlook suggests that they will continue to rise this year, and oil due to the good moment that Ecopetrol is experiencing.”.
Source: La República
Date: January 21
Headline: Forum on Revolution in the Digital Age
Tigo organized the third forum ‘Revolution in the Digital Age’, an event that had as its central theme the impact that 5G networks will have on Colombian industries and the challenges facing an infrastructure opening with that signal. Local and international speakers shared their vision on the reach of this new technology in the country. At the meeting, panelists included Ernesto Gutiérrez, digital vice president of Ecopetrol; Olga Lucía López, CIO of ISA; and Marcelo Cataldo, president of Tigo.
Source: El Colombiano
Date: January 21
Headline: Today marches return to the country
After the year-end holidays, which posed a break for marches and pots in Colombia, these days will return this Tuesday, apparently, to the main cities of Colombia. The Strike Committee has announced this on social media. Its objective remains to demand that government measures be taken on certain issues they disagree with and that they set out in a petition document of 104 points, which was delivered to the National Government last December. Regulating social protest, eliminating the Mobile Anti-Disturbance Squad (Esmad), immediate freedom for those who have been deprived of liberty during the marches, that Colombia withdraws from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), repurchasing Ecopetrol (which would cost 15 trillion pesos) and returning to the dialogue table with the ELN guerrilla are some of the issues included in the petition.
Source: El Meridiano de Córdoba
Date: January 21
Headline: Attractive
The most recent Financial Opinion Survey placed Ecopetrol in the first place of the most attractive stocks that make up the Colcap index, followed by Grupo Sura.
Source: La Nación
Date: January 21
Headline: How to play with the figures. By: Amylkar D. Acosta
As will be remembered, shortly after taking office and regarding the budget for the 2019 fiscal year, the Minister of Finance, Alberto Carrasquilla, alarmed the country when he stated, bluntly, that it was underfunded by 1.25 trillion. (…) It was then stated by Minister Carrasquilla that the Government would sell 8.51% of its shares in Ecopetrol, to complete the 20% of divestment authorized by the Congress of the Republic through Law 1118 of 2006 and initiate the process for the sale of 51% of its participation in ISA, one of the two crown jewels. (…) And as if that were not enough, he dismissed the decision of the Advisory Committee. And this, discarding in passing, because according to him it is not required, the announced sale of shares of Ecopetrol and ISA.
Source: laopinion.com.co
Date: January 21
Headline: 2020, a decisive year for the future of fracking
The Council of State has not yet pronounced on the conditions for the implementation of pilot projects. According to industry stakeholders, 2020 will be key to knowing the outcome regarding the use of fracking for oil and gas extraction in Colombia, a pending issue that, according to voices from that sector, generates uncertainty. (…) In this matter, there would be a decline in the interest of foreign companies to make investments, in addition to an impact on the growth outlook for Ecopetrol, which, although it did not specify in its investment plan for 2020 how much it would allocate to fracking exploration, this is indeed one of the priorities. Despite the fact that, according to the National Hydrocarbons Agency (ANH), there are active contracts for the exploration of unconventional deposits (fracking) –Drummond (5), ConocoPhillips (2), Ecopetrol (1) and Parex (1)–, there are still recurring doubts.
Topics
Source: La República
Date: January 21
Headline: Investigative agenda of Anif during 2019. By: Nelson Vera and Ekaterina Cuéllar
The year 2019 saw the global gap widen between: i) moderate economic recovery (with growth of 2.71% vs. 3.31% in 2018), where elements of Secular Stagnation are present in the developed world; (…) There, topics mainly addressed included: i) taxation, with notes on the Financing Law and the effectiveness of tax collection firms vs. households (see Weekly Report No. 1444 of January 2019 and Economic Comments of the Day April 23 and August 21, 2019); ii) the divestment of Ecopetrol and the privatization of public assets (see Weekly Reports No. 1446 of February and 1456 of April 2019); and iii) the sustainability of public debt and the Fiscal Rule (see Economic Comments of the Day February 12 and June 20, 2019).
Source: El Nuevo Siglo
Date: January 21
Headline: Investment and household spending, pillars for economic reactivation
Greater investment and increased household spending will be the fundamental elements for the country to achieve sustained economic reactivation during this year. According to a report from Protección, “in the next six months we expect a rebound in economic growth due to the favorable dynamics of household spending and the potential reactivation of exports. (…) They also state that “we believe that inflation will seek a level of 3.21% for the end of 2020. International recovery, in an environment of lower uncertainty regarding trade tensions, could generate moderate increases in oil prices, which may benefit the country's public finances. Likewise, at Protección, we think that the economy could grow close to 3.31% in 2019. For 2020, we expect economic growth of 3.61%, with inflation of 3.25%, and an exchange rate at the end of 2020 close to 3,100-3,200.”
Source: El Nuevo Siglo
Date: January 21
Headline: Government closely reviewed the 134 requests from the Strike Committee
Each of the 134 requests that the Strike Committee has made to the Government to cease its claims is being analyzed by the national Executive. Precisely today, when new mobilizations and “cacerolazos” will take place across the country, the Government indicated which aspects it is capable of discussing and seeking solutions. (…) Initially, in the document from the Strike Committee released last November, 13 axes were presented with the hundred requests, including, among other topics, modifying military doctrine and security and defense policy, resuming the dialogue agenda with the ELN; prohibiting fracking and glyphosate. In response, the coordinator of the national conversation and director of Dapre, Diego Molano, warned that such requests seem “like the request for a constituent assembly.”.
Source: ADN Bogotá
Date: January 21
Headline: Terrorist action against pipeline in Nariño
In the jurisdiction of Barbacoas (Nariño), it was confirmed that a new attack occurred against the Transandino pipeline (OTA). This was reported by the command of the Hercules Stabilization and Consolidation Task Force. The incident occurred on Sunday night at kilometer 96 + 800 of the road that leads from Tumaco to the Junín district. The residents of the Berlín village were surprised by the explosion in the oil pipeline.
Source: rcnradio.com
Date: January 21
Headline: Protesters block entry to Bogotá via Calle 13
Just before 6 in the morning, a group of protesters blocked Avenida Centenario. About 50 protesters blocked Avenida Calle 13, heading west to east, at the entrance to the capital of the country, as part of the new day of marches taking place in the country on January 21. This demonstration becomes the first blockade of the strike day being carried out on January 21 by various social groups. (…) The group has signs of solidarity towards the murdered leaders, against fracking projects, and even opposition to the airport operating 24 hours a day.
Institutional
Source: Portafolio
Date: January 21
Headline: More than US$2,300 million for fuel infrastructure
The National Government will develop a pending task aimed at firmly ensuring, in the long term, the supply of liquid fuels throughout the national territory. This involves investments of more than US$2.300 million with which the Mining-Energy Planning Unit (Upme) will seek to expand and extend the storage and transportation infrastructure for these petroleum derivatives. According to the entity, three cases are contemplated for the aforementioned works, contained in the Indicative Supply Plan for Liquid Fuels (Piacl), which will be evaluated among its technicians, along with those from the Ministry of Mines and Energy (MME), to choose the most relevant in terms of cost-benefit.
Source: El Meridiano de Sucre
Date: January 21
Headline: ‘Fracking’ would be the solution
To address the gas shortage that Colombia will face starting in 2024, which will force it to import this product from that year, the Minister of Mines and Energy, María Fernanda Suárez, explained that the national government already has a roadmap to avoid a potential shortage and ensure the transition. Reminding that last year the National Hydrocarbons Agency (ANH) made a significant effort to reactivate the sector with the process of assigning areas and signing offshore contracts, which are insufficient, as Colombia has approximately 3 trillion cubic feet of gas (Venezuela has 500), the development of unconventional deposits or «fracking» becomes the great alternative for the country.
Source: La Libertad
Date: January 21
Headline: OPEC estimates that oil production will reach 900 thousand barrels
The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) revealed projections regarding the crude oil production that Colombia will achieve this year. (…) The concrete results on the oil production recorded in 2019 will be announced by the Ministry of Mines and Energy in the coming weeks; this report will also disclose how the country stands in terms of gas and oil reserves. (…) Of course, Ecopetrol will have to make efforts in its activity, both in the development of reserves and in its exploration,» said the president of the Colombian Association of Petroleum Engineers, Carlos Leal.
Colombian Association of Oil and Gas