The national oil company in Colombia wants to halt its US venture. Colombian President Gustavo Petro gave an order to the country’s government-owned oil company, Ecopetrol. He asked the company to stop working with a U.S.-owned oil company. He made this decision because he was worried about the project’s environmental impacts.
This partnership was supposed to help produce about 90,000 barrels of oil daily, but it has been canceled.
In a speech that was broadcast across the country, Mr. Petro explained why he gave the order. He said he disapproved of the recent extension of a deal between Ecopetrol and Occidental Petroleum (Oxy). He wants the national oil company in Colombia to halt its US venture because both companies had an agreement that involved using a method called fracking to extract oil. Fracking is a controversial process where oil and gas are taken from deep underground rocks. The problem is that many environmental groups criticize this process because of the harm it can cause to the environment.
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Mr. Petro said that he wanted the operation to be sold. He wants the money from the proceedings to be invested in clean energy instead. He strongly opposes fracking, stating that it harms nature and humanity. In his words, “We are against fracking because fracking is the death of nature and the death of humanity.”
On February 3, Ecopetrol announced it would continue working with Occidental in the Permian basin. The basin is a large oil production area in Texas and New Mexico. They plan to invest more than 880 million dollars to develop 91 new oil wells.
Ecopetrol said that its projects in the Permian Basin produced an average of 95,200 barrels of oil daily during the first nine months of last year, or about 12% of its total oil production.
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Although the Colombian government controls the oil company, Ecopetrol is also listed on the New York Stock Exchange. After announcing its deal with Occidental, Ecopetrol’s stock went up by 2%. However, the stock later dropped slightly after Colombia’s president, Petro, called off the deal.
Colombia has refused to allow fracking within its borders but has not stopped Ecopetrol’s involvement in overseas fracking ventures. Environmentalists worry that fracking can pollute water sources and cause small earthquakes.