BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) — Colombian President Gustavo Petro on Tuesday ordered the state-run oil company Ecopetrol to cancel a joint venture with a U.S.-owned company that was expected to produce around 90,000 barrels of oil per day, citing environmental concerns.
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In a nationally televised speech, Petro said he opposed the recent extension of a deal between Ecopetrol and Occidental Petroleum, or Oxy, because it involved extracting oil through fracking, a controversial technique used to extract oil and gas from shale rock that has been criticized by environmental groups.
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“I want that operation to be sold, and for the money to be invested in clean energies,” Petro said in a meeting with his Cabinet that was livestreamed on social media. “We are against fracking, because fracking is the death of nature, and the death of humanity.”
Ecopetrol had announced on Monday it would renew its operations with Oxy in the Permian basin, an oil producing region that spans Texas and New Mexico, to develop 91 oil wells, investing over $880 million.
Ecopetrol said its projects in the Permian basin produced an average of 95,200 barrels of oil per day in the first nine months of last year. Operations in the Permian basin made up around 12% of Ecopetol’s total production last year.
Ecopetrol, controlled by the Colombian government but also listed on the New York Stock Exchange, saw its shares rise 2% on Tuesday following the announcement of its deal with Occidental. However, they fell slightly after Petro called for the agreement’s cancellation.
Colombia has refused to approve fracking projects on its territory, though it had not previously blocked Ecopetrol from taking part in fracking ventures overseas.
Environmentalists argue that fracking can pollute water sources and cause tremors.
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Skinnieguy on February 5th, 2025 at 04:35 UTC »
This will be the new norm. Countries will do bare minimum to not get tariffed. No new deals and let all the old ones end without renewal.
Countries going to make trade pacts with each other. Avoid the US, seeing how easy deals can be broken and canceled by Trump.
I can see US employees and companies moving abroad or at least opening new offices to avoid the Feds.
Living_Option5924 on February 5th, 2025 at 04:13 UTC »
He renegotiated NAFTA first term and now calls it one of the worst and most unfair deals in the world.
agreements with the USA might as well be written on toilet paper because they are worthless.
Adventurous-Bat-9254 on February 5th, 2025 at 03:20 UTC »
An unpredictable investor is the worse kind. No matter the terms. They may offer the best terms but if you can't trust them to keep it, it is the worst investment