Bogotá — Colombia’s state-owned oil company Ecopetrol has announced it has aligned itself with the government’s hydrocarbons policy and will not go ahead with its pilot projects to begin fracking in the country.
During the presentation of Ecopetrol’s financial results for third quarter, CEO Felipe Bayón told investors that “we formally asked the National Hydrocarbons Agency (ANH) to suspend the terms of the contracts for a period of 90 days, and we are waiting for a response,” adding that the move is intended to give the ANH, the regulator and the government the possibility of discussing the issue of unconventional hydrocarbon extraction.
In addition, the oil company’s CEO said that, “if the government or Congress make the decision not to carry out unconventional projects in the country, Ecopetrol will not carry them out. We have to undo the agreements with Exxon Mobil for participation in the blocks, and we are undoing those agreements. We are acting in a congruent manner with this message of not exploring unconventional resources in Colombia”.
Ecopetrol reported net income of $9.5 billion pesos ($1.9 billion) during the third quarter of 2022, a growth of 150% compared to the 3.8 billion pesos it raked in during the same period of 2021.
In addition, its revenues totaled 43.4 billion pesos ($9.04 billion), Ebitda 21.1 billion pesos ($4.39 billion), and the Ebitda margin was 48.7%.
After Ecopetrol’s financial report and the announcement that it will not continue with fracking in the country, the oil company’s shares rose 1.14% to 2,579 pesos ($0.53) per share.