Ecopetrol's profits will drop 22% by 2024
Ecopetrol, Colombia's largest state-owned oil company, reported on Tuesday that its annual net profit in 2024 will drop by nearly 22% due to a stronger U.S. Dollar and lower oil prices internationally.
The Colombian government owns 88.5% of the shares in the energy company. It posted a profit of $14.9 trillion last year ($3.6 billion), which is a significant increase from 19.06 trillion in 2023.
Ecopetrol's Chief Executive Ricardo Roa stated during a recent press conference that the decline in the net profit of the company last year was a result of 49% the exchange rate and 36% the prices, with 15% the inflation.
Ecopetrol's fourth-quarter net profit dropped 7.8% to 3.9 trillion pesos. This reflects the same challenges that have been present throughout the year, linked to oil and foreign exchange.
The total sales for the third quarter were 34.8 trillion pesos. This is the same as the previous three-month period.
Ecopetrol said that the company's earnings (before interest, taxes, amortization, and depreciation) fell by 3.1% to 11.88 trillion Pesos in the third quarter of 2024, compared with the same period last year.
The total production of oil and gas in the period fell by nearly 4% on an annual basis to 730,100 barrels equivalent per day (boepd).
Roa reported that the company's production in 2024 will reach 745,800 boepd - an increase of 1.2% on a year-on-year. This is the highest level ever recorded by the company.
(source: Reuters)
