Ecopetrol Sits on Sidelines

Colombia’s Ecopetrol has no plans to issue additional equity or debt in either the international or local markets this year as the company has sufficient resources to fund capex and operations, CFO Adriana Echeverri tells LatinFinance. “Currently our [cash] position is $4.3bn and oil prices are way beyond our projected $65 dollars per barrel, so we are not requiring additional funding,” she says. The state-controlled oil producer has an $80bn capex plan for the 2011-2020 period, of which 65% will be funded with internal cash, 25% with debt and 10% equity, including funds raised in an equity follow-on last month. The recent follow-on fell short of its COP2.5trn target ($1.4bn), raising COP2.40trn, though the result has not altered the company’s plans. “The requirements for the company in local currency were COP2.5trn and the shortfall is not much so we are not thinking about additional equity,” Echeverri adds. The company has no timeline for its next round of equity sales, she says, noting the government still needs congressional approval to sell a 10% stake in Ecopetrol.