Ecopetrol Colombia reports a 22% drop in profit for the first quarter
Ecopetrol, Colombia's largest state-owned oil company, reported a 22% drop in net profits for the first quarter. The amount was $3.13 trillion Colombian Pesos (US$730.54 millions) compared with the same period last year.
Total sales of the energy company for the three-month span were 31.37 trillion Pesos. This is a tiny bit more than the sales reported by the same quarter in 2024.
In a recent statement, CEO Ricardo Roa stated that "we are in an environment that is affected by external factors, geopolitical conflicts and primarily a strong impact from the fall in Brent crude oil prices."
The company stated that the economic slowdown in China, as well as widespread US tariff threats, had impacted crude prices. In addition to this uncertainty over production licenses in Venezuela as well as sanctions on certain oil imported added to the challenges facing the sector.
Ecopetrol's total production, which is 88.5% owned by the Colombian Government, increased 0.6% on an annual basis to 745,400 barrels equivalent per day.
Ecopetrol said that the company's earnings (before interest, taxes and depreciation) in the first quarter of 2025 fell 6.9% compared to the same period the previous year, reaching 13.26 trillion pesos. Its EBITDA margin also decreased by 3.2%.
(source: Reuters)
