ACP as a source of information
Source: desdeabajo.info – National
Date: March 24
Headline: Fracking in Colombia: Breaking the bowels of the Earth without measuring consequences
With Decree 328 of 2020, the government of Iván Duque imposed the opening of pilot fracking projects in Colombia, sidelining the observations of environmental and scientific sectors that support the negative effects of this practice on nature and its human environment. (…) Entrepreneurs are savoring it. The president of the Colombian Petroleum Association (ACP), Francisco José Lloreda, was one of the first to welcome the government's decision. In an interview, Lloreda tried to hide his interests, stating “[…] here it cannot be said that those who have urgency for the pilots are the companies, no, it is the country that has urgency, not the companies.”, then justifying fracking in the name of national sovereignty “If Colombia had not lost a decade, we would not be about to lose gas self-sufficiency. If we had started earlier, today we would not have concerns about oil and gas reserves […] producing an extension in time between 25 years and 35 years of oil reserves, which would give peace of mind to the country because oil is limited, I refer to the proven reserves of crude oil as well as gas” (1).
Source: paisminero.com – National
Date: March 24
Headline: Regulation would hinder tasks for ‘fracking’
A regulation that the National Government is preparing and that relates to extractive activity in the national territory would end up discouraging oil companies from doing fracking in the country. It is the bill that regulates the recent reform to the General System of Royalties (SGR) and, from which, the discount of 40% was removed for those companies that carry out tasks to develop unconventional deposits (YNC) in the territory. (…) For his part, Francisco José Lloreda, president of the Colombian Petroleum Association (ACP), said that there is no formal document on the bill, and that it is even just a draft for review. (…) Portafolio raised the inquiry to the Ministry of Mines and Energy to establish the reasons for the removal of the 40% discount, or if it would be included in the final version, but did not receive a response from the agency's officials.
GREMIO
Source: La República
Date: March 25
Headline: Chevron will cut its investments
The American oil company Chevron has announced the cancellation of its annual stock buyback program for up to US$5.000 billion, of which it had already completed the acquisition of shares valued at US$1.750 billion, as well as a cut of about US$4.000 billion in the capital expenditure planned by the company in 2020, in response to market conditions, with a collapse in oil prices and the Covid-19 epidemic, which may have a material impact on the multinational's results. «We believe that Chevron is resilient and is positioned to withstand this challenging environment,» said Chevron's president and CEO, Michael Wirth.
Source: La República
Date: March 25
Headline: The Colcap recovered and rose 0.43%
After registering a week with losses and temporary suspensions of operations due to sharp declines, this Tuesday, the Colcap index of the Colombian Stock Exchange (BVC) started recovering, ended with a rise of 0.43%, and stood at 923.5 points. The stock with the best upward performance during the day was that of Grupo Éxito, with an increase of 14.47% to $14.080. The preferred shares of Cementos Argos continued, with an increase of 11.16% to $2.490; and the shares of Ecopetrol, with a positive variation of 8.75% to $1.615.
Source: El Nuevo Siglo
Date: March 25
Headline: Off the record. ‘Turn on the machine'
An opposition senator is contemplating a formula to ensure economic support for families amid the health emergency. According to reports, a constitutional reform would be sought to empower the President of the Republic to order the Bank of the Republic to authorize an extraordinary issuance of money to finance the mitigation of the pandemic's effects and, later, the entire process of reactivating the productive apparatus. According to one of the parliamentarian's advisors, to prevent credit rating agencies from viewing this maneuver negatively, the figure of a loan from the Issuer to the Nation would be proposed, backed by state assets such as the majority shareholding of Ecopetrol itself. This way, not only would the budget be secured to face the emergency, but it would also shield the state oil company from what the left calls a “privatizing spirit” towards it.
Source: El Colombiano
Date: March 25
Headline: The echoes left by the Nutresa Assembly
Just as companies like Bancolombia and Grupo Argos did, or Ecopetrol next Friday, Grupo Nutresa held its shareholders' assembly virtually, where the highlighted topics were the approval of a monthly dividend of 54.1 pesos per share, the integration of three new members to its board of directors, and advances in sustainability.
Source: La Opinión
Date: March 25
Headline: Communities impose protection measures
With chains across the Socuavo bridge, in the Miramontes district, in the rural area of Tibú, community leaders from this municipality and El Tarra announced this week the preventive closure of access to these townships. Through a video circulated via WhatsApp chains and social media, the community prohibited the entry and exit of public transport vehicles to the Pacelli township (Tibú), as an extra measure to prevent the spread of the coronavirus COVID-19 in the surrounding areas. (…) They also asked Ecopetrol and its subsidiary Cenit to restrict flights to the PC4 station, to prevent people coming from other municipalities from entering the area and violating the protection measures adopted by the community.
Topics
Source: La República
Date: March 25
Headline: Economic reliefs drive a slight rebound in oil prices
Oil prices recorded a slight increase at the close of yesterday's session. According to information from Reuters, «Brent crude futures gained 12 cents or 0.4% to reach US$27.15, while West Texas Intermediate (WTI) in the U.S. rose 65 cents (2.8%) to US$24.01 per barrel.» This slight rise in oil prices occurred amid an environment where the number of COVID-19 infections continues to rise and the main producers of this commodity remain in a price war. (…) »The scenario we see currently is a crossover between the demand effect caused by COVID-19 and a supply effect due to the oil price war. It is important to note that this new price situation is not necessarily a new normal; we are facing uncertainty about the depth and extent of the crisis,» explained Campetrol.
Source: Portafolio
Date: March 25
Headline: The fiscal deficit would increase by at least 11% during this year
As the days go by, the debates regarding how to face the situation from the fiscal side due to covid-19, low oil prices, and the devaluation of the peso are receiving more inputs and contributions from experts to the discussion. (…) According to preliminary data from Corficolombiana, this year the Central Government would be allowed an increase in the deficit close to 0.51% of GDP, “due to the negative oil cycle (the crude price in the market is much lower than the long-term price). However, a good part of that increase will be the result of the fall in tax revenues from the oil sector.” (…) The first will be related to lower economic growth due to the coronavirus and the measures taken; the second, the fiscal impact from the drop in oil prices; and the third, the effect of Venezuelan migration on the deficit.
Source: Portafolio
Date: March 25
Headline: Checkmate to national ethanol? By: Andrés Espinosa Fenwarth
The ethanol agroindustry in Colombia is seriously threatened by massive subsidized imports of fuel alcohol from the United States. The Subdirectorate of Commercial Practices of the Ministry of Commerce, Industry, and Tourism concluded in an investigation requested in June 2018 by the National Federation of Biofuels that imports of U.S. ethanol entered with subsidized prices to ethanol producers and their raw material, yellow corn, for US$1.646 million between 2015 and 2017. (…) Despite Fedebiocombustibles presenting irrefutable evidence of the serious economic and social harm caused to the national ethanol agroindustry by the subsidized imports originating from the United States, which warranted the imposition of compensatory measures of 22.651% to counter it, the Ministry of Commerce erred in its technical assessment and imposed lower provisional compensatory duties, between May and September 2019, of 9.361%.
Source: El Colombiano
Date: March 25
Headline: Covid-19 hides other threats. By: Luis Carlos Villegas E.
The disease advances amid a fearful society, a healthcare system under strain, and well-taken and universally adhered official measures that hopefully are sufficient and timely. (…) Of course, oil prices fell and with them fiscal revenues; but it must be done quickly. The oil price war has an uncertain development, both due to its causes and its solutions. There are new facts: the U.S. is now the world's leading crude producer, but with high costs, willing to buy cheap oil for its inventories; global demand has been severely affected by the coronavirus, especially in China; Venezuela produces less crude than Colombia; Saudi Arabia wanted to reduce production due to the drop in demand, and Russia, not a member of OPEC, wanted to maintain supply to avoid losing market share; and both countries want to demonstrate that the U.S. cannot profitably produce oil at US$30 per barrel, meaning that fracking is an illusion at low prices.
Source: El Colombiano
Date: March 25
Headline: Oil recovers in its two references
According to information from the EFE agency, the West Texas Intermediate (WTI) oil reference showed an increase of 2.78%, establishing it at $24.01 per barrel. The Brent, which Colombia uses in its accounts, showed a valuation of 2.15% and reached $27.61 per barrel.
Source: larepublica.co
Date: March 25
Headline: Brent reference oil falls 3.171% and is located at US$26.29 despite economic announcements
Although in the early hours of the morning oil started with a gain in both references, as a result of the expectations generated by the announcement of U.S. President Donald Trump regarding the package of measures to stimulate the U.S. economy, at 7:00 a.m. (Colombian time), the references began to drop. On the Bloomberg platform, the Brent reference showed a drop of 3.171%, thus placing it at a price of US$26.29 per barrel. Analyzing the WTI reference, it also shows a drop of 1.421% and has a price per barrel of US$23.67. (…) As has been reported through Reuters, «despite the announcements made by the United States, the demand for petroleum products, especially jet fuel, is falling worldwide as more governments announce closures to contain the spread of the coronavirus, which limits crude advances.».
Institutional
Source: Portafolio
Date: March 25
Headline: Energy, backed by 34 thermal and 29 hydroelectric plants
To guarantee firm energy and face the quarantine, the National Government took all measures to keep the switch on, in order to ensure the supply of electric current in the country. And the task has been carried out for a couple of weeks by the technicians of the Ministry of Mines and Energy (MME) and the Mining-Energy Planning Unit (Upme), who reviewed each of the generation sources (hydroelectric, thermal, and renewable), as well as the installed capacity of each of the complexes, to establish the amount of energy that can be offered. (…) “The level of the reservoirs makes it essential to have the backup of gas and coal thermal plants in the generation of electric energy in Colombia to guarantee the supply of this service,” specified a spokesperson for the MME.
Colombian Association of Oil and Gas