Ecopetrol's Q4 profit drops by 58%

Ecopetrol, Colombia's state-owned oil producer, reported on Wednesday a 58% decline in profits for the fourth quarter compared to a year ago. This was due to lower Brent crude prices, lower gas sales in Colombia, and effects of a weaker currency.

The company reported in a filing to Colombia's stock market that the net profit for the quarter was?801 billion Colombian Pesos ($211 millions) on total sales which?fell by 15.8%, to 17.17 trillion Colombian Pesos. Ecopetrol's 88.5%-owned shares saw a slight decline in production, with 729.200 barrels equivalent to oil per day, from the same quarter last year.

The crude?output grew by 3% on an annual basis to 574,800 barrels a day.

Ecopetrol CEO Ricardo Roa told a press conference that "some may not believe it but we are recording the highest domestic crude oil production for the past five years." Ecopetrol's earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA), which are based on revenues, fell 31.2% in the last year to?4,56 trillion pesos.

(source: Reuters)