Ecopetrol forecasts uptick in capex pace

Colombia’s Ecopetrol expects to increase the pace of capital expenditure through end-December, according to the national oil company’s chief financial officer Jaime Caballero.

“Even though challenging operating conditions remain, we expect a significant rise in the execution pace throughout the second half of the year,” the executive said during Ecopetrol’s second quarter results presentation.

Caballero highlighted, however, that the year-end capex level is forecast to be near the bottom of the investment range announced previously.

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“In this regard, a larger share of investment outside Colombia is also expected compared to what was initially forecasted driven by a higher execution at the Permian [in the US],” added the CFO.

Of the group’s US$1.37bn investment in 1H21, 69% went to Colombia and the balance to the US, Brazil, and Mexico. Caballero said that the amount was the second highest first half investment in the last five years.

“Upstream investments accounted for 77% of total capex mainly in growth opportunities with a focus on increasing production and reserves,“ he added.

Ecopetrol’s capex guidance for this quarter now stands at US$900mn-1.2bn and US$1.2-1.45bn for 4Q21.

The NOC’s latest financial report is available here.