ACP as a source of information
Source: La República – National
Date: February 04
Headline: Foreign investment in oil advances
In the last year, Colombia has made important decisions and is advancing in the reactivation of the oil and gas industry, a key sector in the national economy, which besides contributing significantly to public finances ($16 billion estimated for 2019), guarantees the possibility of having the resources we consume and maintaining energy self-sufficiency. (…) The Colombian Petroleum Association (ACP) recently presented the report on Investment Trends in Exploration and Production (E&P) in Colombia, with the outlook for 2020 and the results of the investment climate survey. Responded in: larepublica.co (February 04).
Source: diariodelcesar.com – Regional
Date: February 03
Headline: The oil bet
One of the major bets for this year is, without a doubt, the boost to the hydrocarbons industry. Expectations regarding foreign exchange income, tax contribution, and the impact of this industry on the real sector of the economy for 2020 are very high. Moreover, it can be said that the possibility of GDP growing around 3.5 percent has part of its hopes pinned on the good performance of the oil and gas sector. Without it, reaching the target would be very complicated. (…) How does the outlook look for 2020? Days ago, the Colombian Petroleum Association revealed its perspectives on this matter. This is a key forecast considering that this association gathers information from 26 companies that represent 94 percent of production in Colombia and 81 percent of exploration. Given this, it is very encouraging that investment in exploration and exploitation is expected to be close to 5 billion dollars, 23 percent more than that recorded during 2019.
GREMIO
Source: La República
Date: February 04
Headline: Entrepreneurs, the thermometer of the economy in 2020
The expectations of entrepreneurs regarding what is coming in the next 11 months show optimism and the desire to continue betting on Colombia. (…) Felipe Bayón Pardo, President of Ecopetrol. The Ecopetrol Group plans to invest between US$4.5 billion and US$5.5 billion this year, which represents an increase of between 25% and 53% compared to the estimated figure for organic investments in 2019. The investment plan was built with an expectation of Brent price in the US$50 and US$60 per barrel. In this range, the plan aims to ensure an average return on capital employed (Roace) greater than 12%, which will keep Ecopetrol as one of the companies with the highest value generation among its peers, and anticipates efficiencies of $1.6 billion, which will add to the more than $11 billion achieved in the last five years.
Source: La República
Date: February 04
Headline: New chapter in the Reficar corruption case
More than two and a half years have passed since the Prosecutor's Office initiated legal proceedings regarding the irregularities that occurred during the 12 years of development of the modernization plan for the Cartagena Refinery, which caused cost overruns exceeding $610,000 million. However, none of the alleged responsible parties for one of the largest embezzlements in the country are serving sentences to date, and only the former legal vice president of the company remains in custody. (…) Last August, the Prosecutor's Office formally charged seven individuals, including former executives of Reficar and Ecopetrol, for modifying contractual clauses and agreements, causing a cost overrun that doubled Reficar's initial budget and delayed the project's delivery by three more years.
Source: La República
Date: February 04
Headline: Colfimax projects to serve more than 10,000 SMEs with financing.
Colfimax, a company that offers electronic factoring (financing) services in Colombia, stated that at least this year more than 10,000 small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) will benefit from the programs it offers without credit requirements. The company indicated that under its portfolio (factoring, loans, money transfers, and payments, among others) it contributes to the economic development of the country and promotes financial inclusion, quickly and securely facilitating the liquidity needs of the national entrepreneurship segment. (…) It provides services to more than 20 large companies in Colombia. Colfímax, a company that is part of the Colombia Fintech guild, operates with nearly 20 large payers, such as Dispapeles, Acesco, Frontera Energy, and Equión Energía. Additionally, during its work with established companies in the field of factoring, it recorded operations worth more than $500,000 million in approximately 10,000 invoices negotiated by small and medium-sized enterprises in the country.
Source: Portafolio
Date: February 04
Headline: Government does not rule out privatizations in 2020.
Just as it happened a year ago, the National Government included in its projections for this year the income it would receive from selling some assets in which it has a stake. This was detailed by the Ministry of Finance in the 2020 Financial Plan, which includes total sources of $74.8 trillion, of which about $9 trillion are classified as “other resources.” (…) Meanwhile, Brent crude oil accounts, which serve as a reference for Colombia, amount to US$ 60.5, below the US$67.5 that was included in the 2019 Medium-Term Fiscal Framework. “This projection revision occurs because the market has a consensus on that figure, due to the drop in demand and increases in production in some sectors,” Carrasquilla detailed, confirming that Ecopetrol and the Bank of the Republic will transfer $13.5 trillion to the Nation as profits.
Source: Portafolio
Date: February 04
Headline: Auctions & Commerce, into the real estate business.
After consolidating the marketing of cars and scrap, the company Auctions & Commerce ventures into real estate activity. The focus of this new field is industrial and commercial for established companies, says Martha Gómez, general manager of the company. The first deal it is preparing is the sale of some assets from the oil company Equión in Casanare, for more than $30,000 million. (…) In this regard, it highlights the involvement of Ecopetrol, ETB, and the Bogotá Aqueduct and Sewerage Company. In 2019, Auctions and Commerce totaled transactions on the platform for $90,000 million, a figure it considers historic.
Source: Portafolio
Date: February 04
Headline: Oil drop this year has already exceeded 20%.
The price of oil is not recovering during what we have seen in 2020. In addition to the continuous declines recorded in recent days, the price of the barrel plummeted yesterday by 3.83% based on the April contract, bringing its value to US$54.45 per unit at this moment. Adding all of January and also the price at which the session ended yesterday, the price of Brent crude oil has already recorded a loss of 20.44% to date. (…) On one hand, China's main state oil company, Sinopec, stated that it will execute a reduction of around 12% of its refining to adjust to the lower oil demand that the country will present. This implies a decrease of around 600,000 barrels per day.
Topics
Source: El Tiempo
Date: February 04
Headline: Confirmation of the suspension of fracking and limits on pilot plans.
The Administrative Court of Cundinamarca ratified the suspension of fracking in the country and imposed new conditions on future pilot projects, by resolving a resource for possible risks to health and the environment from that hydrocarbon extraction technique. The Court ordered to «establish a relationship of water supply and demand for agricultural, domestic, and industrial activities in the areas of influence of the projects» where that technique is intended to be used to protect «the ecological flow of water sources.» This was the response to a resource presented to keep fracking suspended until there are scientific studies that guarantee that this activity «will not put at risk health, air, water, the subsoil, and, in general, all factors that make up the environment.» Opponents reported the risks associated with hydraulic fracturing or fracking, a technique that consists of injecting water and chemicals at high pressure to break the layers of the subsoil and release oil and gas. Its defenders say that extraction is necessary to increase reserves.
Source: El Espectador
Date: February 04
Headline: «Fracking» to Colombian environmentalism. By: Pablo Leyva
The Academy of Sciences of France has just held an open meeting with students to discuss climate change and thus overcome the blockage of a few climate-skeptical academics, who closed the way to scientific consensus and prevented the institution from adopting a committed position regarding the climate crisis. (…) Horizons of ten, 20, or 30 years to continue with fossil fuels are illusory. It is naive to assume that current international emission commitments will not evolve to scenarios of restrictions, severe commitments, and other conditions in the short-term markets. Proposing fracking as a valid option is a strategic mistake due to its geoecosystemic and local social impact, and because of the contribution of its products to the climate crisis. Promoting fracking, with research pilots, from some sectors of environmentalism, goes against scientific evidence; it is also not valid to use obvious arguments, such as containing deforestation and others, to distract and justify the disaster.
Source: La República
Date: February 04
Headline: ‘A state cannot legislate for a company’
The exit of the Uber platform from the country has been one of the main business stories in recent years. (…) On one hand, we have increased exports of goods and services, and we have opened new markets. Is it enough to compensate for that drop in oil prices? Not yet, and it is a reality that we live and that other countries where oil has weight in exports also live. (…) How does the Mission that reviewed the energy matrix link with fracking? Our obsession is to make the energy transition, but it is not to do it for the sake of doing it, but to see how the country prepares to mitigate the effects of climate change. The matrix must be seen integrally; it is not about demonizing one and applauding another. Colombia is a country that today effectively produces hydrocarbons. We have capacity and potential, and that is why I believe that the mission of experts for Unconventional Reservoirs (YNC) is important, where there are environmental scientists and people from the hydrocarbon sector who said: before making decisions, let’s do research pilots to understand the risks, the possibilities, and based on that, make the best decisions for the country.
Source: La Opinión
Date: February 04
Headline: Natural gas production increased
Natural gas production increased by 9.4%, rising from an average of 977 million cubic feet in 2018 to 1,063 by the end of 2019. Only in December, production reached 1,125 million cubic feet per day, with a 7.5% increase compared to the average production of November (1,046).
Institutional
Source: Portafolio
Date: February 04
Headline: Cupiagua and Cusiana, with 60% of the LPG consumed in the country
For a period of 10 months, 60% of the demand for LPG (propane gas) consumed in the country will be supplied by this fuel produced in the national territory. The reason is that, since November 1, and until the next August 30, the LPG plants from the Cupiagua and Cusiana fields (both from Ecopetrol in the department of Casanare) will deliver to the country about 35,000 tons per month (tpm) of the energy to the demand in the country. According to data from the Colombian LPG Association (Gasnova), corroborated by the Ministry of Mines and Energy (MME), it indicates that while the LPG production at the Cusiana field plant is 14,435 tpm, that of the Cupiagua field is 20,000 tpm. (…) The complex, with characteristics similar to those of Cusiana, produces propane gas for residential use, and also for the dilution of heavy crudes produced by Ecopetrol in fields such as Castilla and Rubiales in the Orinoquía, which will allow reducing future imports of naphtha.
Source: La Opinión
Date: February 04
Headline: Fracking cannot yet be implemented
Oil companies depend on the Government to define the protocols to regulate the fracking pilots. That is why, on December 27, the Ministry of Energy opened the period for comments on the pilot plan, a period that was extended until the 14th of this month.
Source: El Nuevo Día
Date: February 04
Headline: Natural gas production in Colombia increased by 9.4% in 2019.
Natural gas production had an increase of 9.4%, rising from an average of 977 million cubic feet per day (mpcpd) in 2018 to 1,068 mpcpd at the end of 2019. Only in December 2019, the average production of this non-renewable resource reached 1,125 million cubic feet per day, with an increase of 7.5% compared to the average production recorded in November (1,046 mpcpd). This was reported by the Ministry of Mines and Energy, which added that oil production recorded a growth of 2.4%, rising from 865,127 barrels per day in 2018 to 885,851 barrels per day at the end of 2019, the highest since 2016. In December 2019, the average production was 882,222 barrels per day, a figure that represents an increase of 0.23% compared to the average production in November (880,211 barrels).
Source: laguajirahoy.com
Date: February 04
Headline: Fuel station owners close their doors to the public.
At 2:00 PM this Monday, the service stations in La Guajira locked the pumps as a protest for the national government to address the situation in La Guajira regarding fuel. Institutions such as the Army, Police, hospitals, and ambulances are exempt from this strike. The organizers of the strike hope that a commission from the Ministry of Mines and Energy will come soon to talk with them, where their demands will be met to resume fuel sales. The discontent is because on July 10, during the Council of Ministers held in Fonseca, the Minister of Mines and Energy committed to increasing the subsidized fuel quota for the Department to three thousand gallons per month; however, on December 17, 2019, the quota for the department of La Guajira was set at approximately two thousand 500 gallons, that is, below what the Minister had committed.
Colombian Association of Oil and Gas