ACP as a source of information
Source: El País – Regional
Author: Francisco José Lloreda Mera
Date: June 21
Headline: Without VAT and with politics
The day without VAT was neither the panacea that some point out nor the catastrophe that others indicate. Depending on how you look at it, positive or negative aspects stand out from a measure whose implementation unfortunately coincided with a pandemic. That is to say, with most consumers locked down and commerce inactive. A balance with noise, because as often happens in our beloved country, it was immediately politicized. The positive is evident: sales amounting to 5 trillion pesos amid a battered economy, thanks to a 600% increase in sales compared to the previous days and between 30% and 70% with last year, which helps with reactivation. It was replicated in: elpais.com.co (June 21).
GREMIO
Source: El Tiempo
Date: June 23
Headline: Terpel, alert against deception
Terpel warns that, through social networks, a link to a fictitious page is circulating where 3 months of free fuel are offered to people who enter their personal data.
Source: La República
Date: June 23
Headline: The end of Venezuela's oil fortune is upon the regime
Oil revenues, the financial lifeline of Venezuela, are rapidly depleting, adding to the growing instability of the besieged regime of Nicolás Maduro. (…) After the United States imposed sanctions against the Mexican firm Libre Abordo SA de CV and its subsidiary Schlager Business Group, Venezuela began to depend on shipments to its ally Cuba and the Italian refiner Eni SpA and Repsol SA of Spain. Both Eni and Repsol have said in the past that they are receiving oil as payment to settle old debts. (…) As a result, the oil upgrading facilities managed by the state oil company, Petróleos de Venezuela SA, in partnership with Chevron Corp. and China National Petroleum Corp. had to halt activities in June, as they ran out of space to store crude oil.
Source: Portafolio
Date: June 23
Headline: Today the liquidation order for the company Bioenergy would be issued
After three years of operation, today the closure of Bioenergy, one of the most modern sugarcane ethanol distilleries in the world and a subsidiary of Ecopetrol, could be decreed. The financial difficulties to pay its debts, which led on January 31 to the Superintendency of Companies accepting it into insolvency law for a possible reorganization, were not enough, as in subsequent negotiations with its creditors, no viable agreement was reached for the company to fulfill. Thus, with no other alternative, due to its economic unviability (a ghost it has faced since the beginning of its setup), the general assembly of shareholders of the company decided on May 26 to request its voluntary liquidation.
Source: El Nuevo Siglo
Date: June 23
Headline: Government cannot be enabled to sell something that belongs to everyone: Velasco
A great controversy was generated in Congress by the signing of Decree 811, which grants powers to the national Government to sell national assets and buy companies without the approval of Congress, as stipulated by the Constitution. The Decree raised suspicions, and therefore, 90 congressmen from all parties approved a proposal asking the Government to repeal it and discuss openly with the Legislature the buying and selling of assets. (…) I say one thing that may sound harsh, but I feel that for some time now there have been huge sharks behind the big state businesses where society profits. An Ecopetrol with profits of more than 10 trillion a year, a Cenit that transports more than 100 gallons of crude daily and earns between 10 and 19 dollars for each one. These are immensely large businesses that generate great profits, and now I wonder why we want to get rid of them.
Source: El Nuevo Siglo
Date: June 23
Headline: The plane is not mine! By: Amylkar Acosta
In recent days, consultant Mauricio Cabrera titled his opinion column saying that ‘Avianca must be rescued’ and begins warning that “at the risk of being crucified on social media, I must say that it is necessary for the country that Avianca continues to operate.” And I would add that not only Avianca, but also Latam and the other airlines that connect Colombia and Colombia with the world. (…) It is extremely concerning that this Decree leaves a loophole for the eventual privatization of ISA or Ecopetrol when it refers to the power to alienate “the state’s shareholding…that it holds in a certain company.”.
Source: Vanguardia Liberal
Date: June 23
Headline: One dead and one injured on the road between Barrancabermeja and Yondó
The young life of Marlon Monsalve Quintero was extinguished yesterday morning in a tragic traffic accident that occurred at kilometer 4 of the road leading from Barrancabermeja to the municipality of Yondó in Antioquia. The tragic event, which also left another young person seriously injured, happened at 4:00 in the morning near the Ecopetrol Injection Plant close to the entrance of the Antioquian municipality where the two young men were found lying on the pavement, (…) For now, everything is under investigation, and it is hoped that the security cameras of the Ecopetrol Injection Plant captured something that will help clarify the unfortunate traffic accident.
Source: prensalibrecasanare.com
Date: June 23
Headline: Blow to fuel smuggling in Aguazul
Units of the Technical Investigation Corps of the Prosecutor's Office found 641 gallons of crude and other fuels that had been stolen or illegally diverted. The material, valued at 100 million pesos, was found in five storage points located in the municipality of Aguazul. The operation was carried out jointly with the Army and the Police, where six electric pumps, hoses, plastic containers, and other items used for the illegal appropriation of hydrocarbons were also found. The investigations coordinated by a Prosecutor from the Specialized Directorate against criminal organizations indicate that the dismantled deposits allegedly belonged to Organized Criminal Groups that are dedicated to extracting crude oil, ACPM, and fuel oil from the plants and distribution networks of the state-owned Ecopetrol and a Colombian oil and gas company.
Source: prensalibrecasanare.com
Date: June 23
Headline: 95 positive cases of Covid-19 in Arauca
The Special Administrative Unit of Health of Arauca reported that to date, there are a total of 95 positive cases of Covid-19 in the Department. Yesterday, 14 new cases were reported, distributed as follows: 7 in the Revéis Pizarro Battalion of Saravena, 1 in the Tame battalion, which are under isolation measures and are asymptomatic in their respective battalions. Similarly, 6 cases were reported that were detected through active community search for safety at work in the population attached to the Caño Limón oil complex; all are asymptomatic and are at home complying with isolation measures, 5 in the municipality of Arauca and 1 in the municipality of Tame. These individuals had left their work activities more than 15 days ago.
Topics
Source: La República
Date: June 23
Headline: The dollar would remain above $3.700 due to greater uncertainty
The scenario of uncertainty in the world is increasingly growing, as although there was a recovery in the economy, the threat of new outbreaks of covid-19, especially in Asia and the United States, could generate a relapse in the markets. (…) The expert commented that the movement of the local peso against the dollar is being key to the global economic recovery, as it “has generated upward pressure on the price of oil that has supported the Colombian peso, amid selling flows from the DTN.” (…) The local stock market could be attractive. It is likely that the Colcap index will become one of the favorite bets in Latin America. (…) However, the Colombian peso will likely exceed the momentum due to higher oil prices and the improvement of trade relations between the United States and China. So the Colcap could exceed 1,250 units.
Source: La República
Date: June 23
Headline: Technology services as a vaccine. By: Juan Carlos Delgado Ortiz
In the Colombian industry in the mid-80s, talking about automation or variable speed drives (VV) was similar to talking about Artificial Intelligence or digital transformation about five years ago. (…) In the 20th century, the country had little access to foreign currency from exports, dependent on coffee and oil, and this still today generates a great impact on our economic capacity, tariffs, and exchange rate. (…) My opinion: with a large global market needing technology services, we must promote innovation, expanding nationally the articulated model University – Company – State, successful in Medellín, and why not, partnering with top universities from developed countries, thus adding to the US$22.000 million in oil exports from 2019, figures similar to those of Israel with exports of US$50.000 million in services, mainly high technology, such as IT consulting and software.
Source: Vanguardia Liberal
Date: June 23
Headline: On the rise
The price of West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil closed yesterday with an increase of 1.8%, up to 40.46 dollars per barrel, after a day marked by optimism fueled by a major analysis firm regarding demand, despite the increase in SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus infections in the United States.
Source: El Tiempo
Date: June 22
Headline: Response to the crisis. By: Juan Martín Caicedo Ferrer
Investing 0.5 % of the gross domestic product (GDP) in transportation infrastructure over the next 10 years would increase the economic growth rate by 0.8 percentage points per year. This was evidenced in a recent study conducted by Fedesarrollo for the Colombian Chamber of Infrastructure. (…) The above is especially important in light of the current economic situation of the country, where growth is already being negatively impacted by the effects of covid-19 and low oil prices. Thus, investment in works will be the best tool to face a range of enormous challenges: reactivating growth, increasing employment, and reducing poverty. It will undoubtedly be a response to the crisis.
Source: El Colombiano
Date: June 22
Headline: Commodity market shaken by the emergency
The World Bank says that the situation will charge oil, energy, and some metals, and that only a few goods, like gold, would be saved. The situation the world is going through has led international organizations to recalculate the estimates they had at the beginning of the year regarding the main economic indicators. (…) According to experts“ views, a first visible impact would be on raw materials related to transportation. This is because the actions to mitigate the virus ”have meant limiting most movements, so it is expected that this year the demand for oil will decrease by an unprecedented amount of 9.3 million barrels per day," which would be below the 100 million daily of 2019. (…) From the perspective of former Minister of Mines and Energy, Amylkar Acosta, for Brent oil, with which Colombia manages its accounts, the closing price for 2020 could be between 30 and 40 dollars, which would affect the country's income from oil rents.
Institutional
Source: El Heraldo
Date: June 22
Headline: Reactivation boosts fuel consumption
The Ministry of Mines and Energy reported that gasoline and diesel consumption grew in May by 105% and 61%, respectively, compared to April.
Source: La Opinión
Date: June 22
Headline: Oil production will decline due to the pandemic
The higher quotation of international oil prices, as well as the gradual reactivation of productive activities, will not be enough for the oil industry to present a good balance at the end of the year. The Ministry of Mines and Energy confirmed that oil production would not exceed 820,000 barrels per day in 2020, a figure that would translate into a drop of 7% compared to 886,000 barrels achieved last year. (…) The latest report from Campetrol warns that in May there were only 43 active drills, an annual drop of 68% compared to the fifth month of 2019. (…) The president of the guild, Germán Espinosa, assured that, for now, a stabilization in the dynamics is expected, and a gradual recovery in the next three months.
Colombian Association of Oil and Gas