ACP as a source of information
Source: elnuevodia.com.co – Regional
Date: February 28
Headline: Hydrocarbons and foreign trade, the first to feel the effects of the coronavirus
The national economy is feeling the effects of the coronavirus, especially in sectors such as foreign trade and international oil prices. It is no secret that the Coronavirus has become not only a threat to the health and lives of thousands of people worldwide, but it has also begun to present multiple variations and economic imbalances. (…) “China and Asia are like vacuums for tradable goods, including oil. Unfortunately, the situation that has arisen with the coronavirus has led that region to establish restrictive measures, which has translated into a reduction in the demand for oil and various products,” explained Francisco José Lloreda, director of the Colombian Petroleum Association. “This has meant that an oil supply that was intended to be consumed by China and other countries has turned out to be excessive. This explains the drop in international oil prices approaching 25%,” he added.
Source: El País – Regional
Author: Francisco José Lloreda Mera
Date: March 01
Headline: Blunder?
The United Nations report on the human rights situation in Colombia, more than a blunder, as described by the High Counselor for Stabilization, Emilio Archila, is a deliberately rigged act against the Government. Evidence of this includes selective information, the verbs and adjectives used, and the way it addresses issues, in addition to meddling in internal matters that do not concern it. A disrespect. The report aims to evaluate events from 2019 related to the divine and the human, as almost everything falls within the broad spectrum of human rights. But it pays special attention to the implementation of the peace agreement with the FARC, the deaths of social leaders, glyphosate, and, as expected, social protest. And linked to this, it pontificates on citizen security, the National Police, and the organization of the State. Responded in: elpais.com.co (March 01).
GREMIO
Source: La República
Date: March 02
Headline: Celsia, Codensa, and Sura were the ones that increased their profits the most.
The improvement in various aspects of the Colombian economy in 2019 helped boost the profits of the country's most important companies. With a GDP increase of 3.3% last year and a projection of between 3.4% and 3.7% for 2020, the private sector will be one of the biggest beneficiaries. (…) América Móvil, Emgesa, and Bancolombia are the three companies that continue to show good dynamics in their profits. Ecopetrol, Grupo Argos, and Grupo Nutresa also reported profits in 2019. (…) Ecopetrol had profits exceeding $13 billion, the highest figure obtained in seven years, representing a growth of 14.7% compared to 2018. “It was an outstanding year in operational and financial terms for the Ecopetrol Group, meeting our announced goals in the update of the 2019-2021 plan,” said the president of the oil company, Felipe Bayón.
Source: Portafolio
Date: March 02
Headline: Company balances exceed the performance of the economy.
The Colombian economy is recognized for its growth of 3.31%, which last year allowed it to stand out among Latin American countries. And this favorable result is confirmed by large companies in the country that show financial balances from 2019 well above that percentage, in some cases in double digits, when compared to 2018. (…) Ecopetrol, which will hold its shareholders' meeting on March 27, presented its results last week, with a profit of 13.3 trillion, 14.6% more than in 2018, the highest in the last six years. Likewise, its revenues totaled 70.8 trillion, with an increase of 4.51%. Local hydrocarbon production and fracking activities in the U.S. were the two activities that contributed the most to the oil company's results.
Source: Portafolio
Date: March 02
Headline: The drop in oil prices would affect fiscal accounts in 2021.
It has only been two months into 2020, but this start of the year has been characterized by being full of volatility. At the end of 2019, Covid-19 was brewing in China, a virus that has already claimed the lives of more than 2,800 people worldwide and has infected another 84,000. Its rapid spread has markets on edge due to its repercussions on the global economy, with a greater impact on the mentioned Asian country. (…) However, it was explained that ‘not everything affects this year's fiscal income, because Ecopetrol's dividends (1.7 trillion for the Government, when they initially expected 1.6 trillion) are already secure. (…) According to Carlos Leal Niño, president of the board of directors of the Colombian Association of Petroleum Engineers (Acipet), ’with an average export of approximately 600,000 barrels per day, the decrease in the price of crude oil by each dollar means a loss of US$18 million monthly.“.
Source: Portafolio
Date: March 02
Headline: Ecopetrol sanctioned for failing to guarantee LPG supply.
The National Government is tightening control over companies that actively participate in the propane gas (LPG) market and/or business in the country. An example of this is the recent sanction imposed by the Superintendency of Public Utilities (Superservicios) on Ecopetrol and the Cartagena Refinery (Reficar) for not adequately meeting the demand for the mentioned fuel in the national territory. (…) For this reason, once Ecopetrol and Reficar were sanctioned, the entity in the same resolution decided to cover the companies participating in the LPG business: Bioenergás, Inversiones GLP, Gases de Antioquia, Nortesantandereana de Gas, Colgás de Occidente, Gas de Santander, and Associated Gas Companies. (…) In this regard, Alejandro Martínez, president of the Colombian LPG Association (Gasnova), emphasized that the sanction is the result of the “excellent” management being carried out by Superservicios in this market.
Source: El Meridiano de Sucre
Date: March 02
Headline: Took control.
Since yesterday, Ecopetrol has total control of the Floreña and Pauto fields in Yopal (Casanare), whose production amounts to 56,000 barrels of oil per day. These wells were controlled by BP Exploration and Equion.
Source: prensalibrecasanare.com
Date: March 02
Headline: More school kits for low-income students in Yopal.
School kits were delivered to minors residing in the residential complex Torres de San Marcos and to students of the educational institution, Gabriela Mistral from the El Charte district, by the Municipal Administration over the weekend. Initially, kits donated by the company Parex were delivered to children residing in Torres de San Marcos, “with the aim of contributing to social development and dignifying the conditions in which the most vulnerable children and youth of the municipality of Yopal study,” said the Secretary of Government, Hugo Archila. School kits for the rural sector. On the other hand, school kits were delivered to students of the educational institution, Gabriela Mistral from the El Charte district, which were donated by Ecopetrol, a company that has joined this campaign with a total of 1,500 kits.
Source: lareporteria.com
Date: March 02
Headline: They receive Ecopetrol in El Morro with protests.
A new protest is called by the association of Community Action Boards of the El Morro district, in Yopal, against the state oil company, which has just taken over the operations of the Floreña and Pauto wells from the company Equión. Through a circular, the leaders say that there have been breaches in social, environmental, human rights, goods and services issues, among others. Pablo Castañeda, president of Asojuntas, stated that they demand electrification and gas for the rural areas, road repairs, and above all, labor participation and the purchase of local goods and services.
Topics
Source: El Tiempo
Date: March 02
Headline: Challenges for the Government and unions to curb rural unemployment
Two rebounds in employment, one from the jobs offered by the private sector and the strong growth of positions in the 13 main cities, still do not stop the rise of unemployment in the country. Unemployment rose from 12.8 percent in January 2019 to 13 percent in January of this year, and the main reasons are related to what happens beyond the big cities, in rural areas, small population centers, or small towns, according to figures provided by the National Administrative Department of Statistics (Dane). (…) One day oil and coal will stop being the source of dollars that they are today; at that moment, Colombia must have things to sell to the world; otherwise, we will be in very bad shape. Diversifying the basket of industrial products and services that generate added value. This must be a major national priority.
Source: El Espectador
Date: March 02
Headline: «The economy is not performing well even though we are growing at 3.31%»
Óscar Cabrera, president of BBVA, reflects on the discussions that must take place in the country to achieve consensus, rowing all in the same direction and overcoming polarization. (…) And what is the other perspective? Now, when you look at it from the inside, it doesn't look so good. The locals always have to complain about how things are. And what things happen that are not right? Since the oil crisis occurred, we realize that we are not well, the economy is not performing well, that even though we are growing at 3.3%, we must not forget that we came from over 4%, we continue to accumulate debt, and one can say: we are getting into debt, but we are investing, well, we could look back and we are still on the same trend, that has not changed since 2014, when the oil collapse occurred. So we are not well.
Source: Portafolio
Date: March 02
Headline: The coronavirus would also affect employment in Colombia: Mintrabajo
The Minister of Labor, Ángel Custodio Cabrera, was received with an unemployment rate of 13.1%, the highest for the month of January since 2011. Therefore, the priority of his management as head of that portfolio, which he assumed just four days ago, will be to address the major national problem: unemployment. (…) We are doing everything humanly possible to do this, but we must also look at the global macroeconomic conditions we are experiencing. For example, what is happening with the fall in oil prices and the impact on the evolution of foreign investment, among other aspects.
Source: Portafolio
Date: March 02
Headline: The Government is improving, late, but improving. By: César Caballero
It is fair to recognize that the government of President Duque is improving, slowly and belatedly, but improving. To begin with, he resolved the ministerial crisis in five months; usually, presidents take hours or days for this task, Duque took months, but well, he finally resolved the issue. (…) I mention other lines of public policy where the government is moving at a very slow pace: the final licenses for the production and export of medicinal cannabis, the implementation of the fracking pilots ordered by the Constitutional Court several months ago that have not yet begun, and the protocols for the fumigation with glyphosate of illicit crops.
Institutional
Source: La República
Date: March 02
Headline: Ministers allocated 14.1% of income to pay rent
Taking into account the tax declarations not only of President Iván Duque but also of nine of his oldest ministers, they earned a total of $5.873 million in the taxable year 2018. For this, they paid around $944.3 million to the Dian corresponding to income tax. Thus, according to the analysis conducted by the firm Carrero Asociados-Contadores y Abogados on these cabinet heads and the President, the average tax rate of the mentioned group was 13.9%, in which María Fernanda Suárez, Minister of Mines, paid the highest proportion, with 19.5% of her income, which was $1.883.8 million. Sylvia Constaín paid the lowest proportion with 8.9% of her income, which totaled $162.382 million.
Source: Portafolio
Date: March 02
Headline: Time cannot be wasted. By: Ricardo Villaveces
A recent presentation by the Minister of Mines and Energy on the topic of Energy Transition and how the government is addressing it left a sense of tranquility, due to the clarity of the proposals and the long-term approach she is giving to her management. (…) It cannot be forgotten that, no matter how much we advance in transportation issues, the country's great vulnerability lies in gas, as a large number of industries and countless households depend on this product. The positive aspect is that a concrete path is known to reduce the risks the country faces in the not-so-distant future. The negative aspect is that it is a solution that has been stigmatized and has become more of a slogan for protest than a serious analytical topic. This is obviously about fracking, which is a topic that must be given all the importance and seriousness in its analysis and, with all necessary precautions, start developing activities in this area.
Source: El Colombiano
Date: March 02
Headline: Resources for producing municipalities
The Minister of Mines and Energy, María Fernanda Suárez, announced resources of 40 billion pesos as an incentive for the production of municipalities that contribute the most to the extraction of non-renewable resources. These resources are in addition to another 175 billion pesos available from the incentive.
Source: La Opinión
Date: March 02
Headline: High-ranking officials of the Duque government who discomfort the Uribismo
With the appointment of Ángel Custodio Cabrera as the new Minister of Labor and next week of Fernando Ruiz as Minister of Health, the cycle of changes with which President Iván Duque is giving new life to his administration to achieve a more robust coalition in Congress is practically closed. (…) The name of the minister in the current cabinet that has been most associated with Santismo is that of Mines, María Fernanda Suárez. In the Santos government, she held the position of Director of Public Credit and Director of the Treasury of the Ministry of Finance. A position that, according to some Uribista sectors, led her to be at the heart of the fiscal direction of the previous government, where only those closest to that line of administration were.
Colombian Association of Oil and Gas