The net profit of Colombian state-controlled oil company Ecopetrol SA fell 77% in the second quarter of the year from the same
period a year earlier as a result of falling oil prices, despite
higher production of crude oil and gas.
Ecopetrol booked a profit of 762 billion Colombian pesos ($373.5
million), down from COP3.35 trillion reported in the same period a
year-earlier, the company said late on Friday.
The profit per share was COP18.83 during the second quarter.
In the first half of the year, its profit fell 58% to COP2.37 trillion compared with the same period a year ago.
The profit per share was COP58.59 in the first half of the year.
The second-quarter profit was much lower than the COP1.22 trillion
on average expected by four analysts polled by Dow Jones Newswires.
Ecopetrol’s Chief Executive Javier Gutierrez said the accumulated
results for 2009 were the result of lower prices of crude and gas.
Ecopetrol’s total sales revenue in the second quarter of the year
fell 29% to COP6.68 trillion from COP9.42 trillion in the same period a
year ago.
In the first half of the year, Ecopetrol sold COP11.8 trillion
worth of products, down 29% from the COP16.6 trillion sold in the same
period a year ago.
Ecopetrol produced 472,900 barrels of oil equivalent a day in the
first half of the year, up from 441,500 barrels of oil equivalent a day
in the same period in 2008.
In the second quarter, the company produced 488,500 barrels of oil equivalent, up 10% from the same period a year ago.
During the second quarter, Ecopetrol invested COP4.63 trillion to
expand existing operations and to take over other companies.
So far this year, Ecopetrol has acquired 50% of Peru’s Petrotech
Peruana SA for $450 million, a 51% stake in a Cartagena refinery from
Swiss commodity company Glencore International AG for $549 million and
the Colombian unit of France’s Etablissements Maurel et Prom (5107.FR)
for $748 million. The company also bought a stake in an oil pipeline
from Enbridge Inc. (ENB) for $418 million.
The company plans to invest about $7 billion this year as part of a $60 billion program over the years 2008-2015.
The company recently sold $1.5 billion in international bonds and
secured COP2.2 trillion in a syndicated loan from local banks to
finance its expansion plan. Ecopetrol will also use part of its
cashflow.
The Colombian government owns 89.9% of Ecopetrol.
Ecopetrol’s shares rose 0.4% to COP2,775 on Friday, while the benchmark IGBC stock index rose 0.6%. (Dow Jones)