ACP as a source of information
Source: Portafolio – National
Author: Francisco José Lloreda Mera*
Date: January 16
Headline: Energy plan: a contribution to the discussion
In December, the Mining-Energy Planning Unit (UPME) launched the National Energy Plan (PEN) 2020 – 2050. A study of the supply and demand for energy in the country that, after a historical review, examines scenarios and makes recommendations to meet and exceed Colombia's commitment at COP21 to reduce Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions by 20% by 2030 and to comply with the Sustainable Development Goals. It is worth conducting a preliminary analysis. (…) It is timely that UPME presents an energy plan for consultation. An important study, with data and few adjectives. Several questions remain on the table, among others: whether the energy sector should assume the entirety of the 20% reduction of GHGs, as it seems, and what the role of fossil fuels should be in the energy transition. And to examine it realistically, without biases, thinking about climate change, energy self-sufficiency, and fiscal sustainability. *President of the ACP. Responded in: portafolio.co (January 15).
Source: El Nuevo Siglo – National
Date: January 16
Headline: Will oil prices reach US$70?
In the medium-term fiscal framework, the established price is US$67.5 per barrel, but with the difference, the country would secure more income this year. One of the first expectations that arose in the country as soon as the escalation of the conflict between the United States and Iran was known was the rise in oil prices, which reached US$70 in that first week of January. (…) For the Ministry of Mines and Energy (MME) and the National Hydrocarbons Agency (ANH), the decrease in pumping would occur due to the natural decline of some blocks. (…) Of course, those high prices benefit Colombia. However, Francisco José Lloreda, director of the Colombian Petroleum Association, states that “we should not be overly optimistic,” considering that “for fiscal purposes, the important thing is the annual average, and we are just starting the year, so it is not clear how prices will behave throughout 2020.”. Responded in: elnuevosiglo.com.co (January 15).
Source: radiosantafe.com – National
Date: January 15
Headline: They invite companies affiliated with the ACP to be part of the Equipares Seal
This was done by the Minister of Labor, who socialized the Labor Equity Seal Equipares with the executive president of the Colombian Petroleum Association, José Francisco Lloreda, and executive members of the entity, in order to invite all affiliated companies to be part of this initiative of the National Government that aims to close the gaps between women and men. “The more equal our country is, the more we can promote sustainable development in companies and organizations. The hydrocarbons industry is precisely one of the most male-dominated, and new opportunities for access and retention for women in employment must be opened,” said the head of the labor portfolio. Responded in: mintrabajo.gov.co (January 15).
Guild
Source: La República
Date: January 16
Headline: The stocks of the Stock Exchange with the highest liquidity during the past year
The Financial Superintendence published the Stock Market Liquidity Index for the period from January 1 to December 31 of last year. This measurement is determined for each of the stocks traded on the Colombian Stock Exchange (BVC), based on the average transaction frequency per month and the average transaction volume per operation. The index is led by Ecopetrol, which recorded an average of 8,921.25 transactions per month during the year, while the average volume per transaction for the same period was $55.27 million. (…) “In the case of Bancolombia, the float of the shares is high, while in the case of Ecopetrol, although only 11.5% is not in the hands of the State, the value of the float is high,” he said.
Source: La República
Date: January 16
Headline: In 2019, private debt issuance reached $13.6 trillion
In 2019, the private sector in Colombia reached the highest debt issuance in the last nine years, with $13.6 trillion, a figure that approached $13.7 trillion in 2010 and represented an increase of 42.6% compared to $9.05 trillion in 2018, detailed a report from Casa de Bolsa. (…) The most important moves. The brokerage firm stated that in the calendar of issuances by companies, those of Banco Popular and Carvajal stand out, both for amounts of $500,000 million through ordinary bonds; that of Terpel, for $470,000 million with durations of 5 and 30 years; that of GM Financial Colombia {General Motors), for $300,000 million; that of Banco Serfinanza, for $200,000 million; those of UNE-EPM Telecommunications and Banco Mundo Mujer, together for $150,000 million. The list is concluded by Titularizadora de Colombia, with $105,000 million.
Source: Portafolio
Date: January 16
Headline: Three exploration plans of the oil company Pemex are approved
The National Hydrocarbons Commission (CNH) approved three exploration plans presented by the Exploration and Production (PEP) subsidiary of Petróleos Mexicanos (Pemex), which together would total an investment of between US$194.9 and US$495.9 million. The assignments cover a combined area of 2,813.16 km2, with a land portion and another marine, within the continental shelf of the Gulf of Mexico off the coasts of the states of Tabasco and Campeche, which belong to the oil province of Southeast Basins.
Source: El Colombiano
Date: January 16
Headline: Éxito, Argos, and Grupo Sura will mark the stock market route
This year, awaiting the effects of the implementation of the Capital Market Mission, a more dynamic Stock Exchange is expected. Last year was good for the Colombian Stock Exchange (BVC) thanks to the Colcap, its most important index, which had an appreciation close to 20 %, which, when compared to the negative performance of markets like New York or Spain – due to the trade war between China and the United States – is very relevant. (…) And in that perspective, the preferred stocks will be: Cementos Argos, Grupo Sura, and Ecopetrol. Although there are other voices that see Éxito's stock as a positive trigger for the dynamics of the stock market (see Radiografía). (…) while Ecopetrol started at 3,320 pesos and has climbed to 3,405 pesos.
Source: El Diario
Date: January 16
Headline: Depth loads. By: Gabriel Alberto Toro Peláez
The Colombian government is studying two issues: the exploitation of hydrocarbons through fracking and the aerial fumigation of narcocrops with glyphosate. The delay in decisions on these important matters is questionable; as these necessary policies have proven their effectiveness. Developed countries: the United States, Canada, Italy, Russia, and Argentina, have been extracting oil and gas through the system known as fracking, to which they have implemented sufficient controls to prevent environmental contamination. Hydrocarbons account for 40.91% of total Colombian exports. Ecopetrol contributed 23 trillion pesos in 2018 through taxes, dividends, and royalties. The known oil reserves total 1.727 billion barrels, which would last for less than 7 years, and gas for a little over a decade.
Topics
Source: La República
Date: January 16
Headline: Dollar gained 1.17% against the TRM due to lower confidence
At the close of the day, the dollar reached an average price of 3,296.73, representing an increase of 1.17% against the Representative Market Rate (TRM), which stood at 3,278.83. (…) Oil prices traded lower due to a lack of market confidence and because OPEC forecasts lower demand for its crude in 2020, although global appetite grows, as rival producers capture a larger market share and the United States reaches record highs in production. The WTI barrel fell 0.721%, to US57.81, while Brent lost 0.761%, to US64.
Source: La República
Date: January 16
Headline: OPEC's forecasts are not encouraging
London. The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries increased its growth forecasts for non-member production in 2020 by 180,000 barrels per day to 2.35 million daily. While the outlook for the U.S. was reduced, the country accounts for almost two-thirds of the new production.
Source: La República
Date: January 16
Headline: Economic reforms and oil hit country ratings
The political context, social discontent, economic reforms, oil price volatility, the slowdown in China and the United States, international uncertainty, among other factors, weighed on the sovereign ratings of Latin America published by Fitch Ratings for this year. (…) According to the publication, positive behavior and recovery will occur “reaching 1.71% of an estimated 0.81% in 2019 with persistent downside risks.” (…) Meanwhile, in other countries in the region like Chile, which at one point was a driver, will be impacted by disturbances, which generate additional spending pressures or prevent the implementation of corrective measures, as is happening in Ecuador.
Source: El Nuevo Siglo
Date: January 16
Headline: Off the record “Thinking with desire…”
An expert in the field of hydrocarbons told a journalist from EL NUEVO SIGLO that the debate over whether Colombia should apply the exploitation of oil and gas through hydraulic fracturing, better known as fracking, “… may be that we are thinking more with desire than with the reality of potential reserves or even less proven ones.” Requesting to remain anonymous, the expert indicated that there are several countries where the debate over fracking ended quickly when it was determined that this modality simply was not viable because their geological formations with oil or gas potential did not require this type of exploratory or extraction modality. Having said that, he raised the following question: Can you name another country in the same Colombian oil basin that has succeeded with fracking?
Source: El Heraldo
Date: January 16
Headline: May there be changes. By: Roberto Zabaraín
The holidays are over and, although the parliamentarians have not started work, the political stews are already being cooked, changes in the cabinet are rumored, it was about time (...) The issue is not only with oil, but also with gas, as some cachaco groups are already talking about installing a liquefaction industry in the Pacific, or alternatively (because it is something extremely costly) setting up a port with a large gasification plant in Buenaventura, that is, importing liquefied gas to return it there to its original state, which is also costly. It’s good that they do it as long as they distribute it only internally and, of course, close the valve of the gas they take from here in La Guajira. That’s why we need a coastal mining minister, and someone who can take action, someone like Carlos Rodado, an expert on the subject and with firm positions.
Institutional
Source: La Verdad
Date: January 15
Ecopetrol and the Rural Development Agency (ADR) signed a cooperation agreement in which they commit to join efforts, with the purpose of managing agricultural projects that strengthen the productive vocation and diversification of local economies in different regions of the country. (…) This initiative adds to other investment programs by Ecopetrol in the area of inclusive rural development, which will cover 4,700 small producers by the year 2022. For its part, the ADR continues inter-institutional work as it did with the National Hydrocarbons Agency for the construction of a Field with Future.
Source: catorce6.com
Date: January 15
Headline: This Thursday there will be a pot-banging protest against fracking pilots in Bogotá
The Colombia Free of Fracking Alliance and environmental organizations will meet on January 16 in front of the EAN University Nogal campus. The Colombia Free of Fracking Alliance announced that they will protest to continue categorically rejecting the implementation of fracking in Colombia as well as the execution of the so-called “Integral Research Pilot Projects (PPII)”. (…) Firstly, they argue that the government designed a dialogue in which only national government entities and companies economically interested in doing fracking participate effectively under the direction of the Ministry of Mines, which is both judge and party in all stages. For them, there is no call to independent scientific centers and universities, which under transparent and equitable conditions, can monitor the traceability of the process and its results.
Colombian Association of Oil and Gas