Ecopetrol's Board of Directors will last 4 years

By unanimous decision, the Ecopetrol Shareholders' Meeting endorsed the new term of the board of directors, which goes from two to four years.

This agreement was the product of the first face-to-face meeting of that assembly after two years of absence. The announcement was made in Corferias, Bogotá.

For the president of the state oil company, Felipe Bayón, this determination is the best given that Ecopetrol will be able to maintain its long-term portfolio expansion strategy, especially the energy transition and sustainability through investments that will increase over time.

“In that regard, we believe and are convinced that the stability of the board of directors is essential. We have to think that in a business like this there is a learning curve and many skills are required,” said Bayón in statements collected by EL HERALDO, a Barranquilla newspaper.

He also stressed that this enlargement will transcend political periods that may influence its formation: “We must adapt to all challenges, and adapt as they do in different parts of the world, and in some way be able to continue working on this deployment of the 2040 strategy.”

The proposal received the vote of confidence from 95.61% of shareholders who participated in the event.

After that, the oil company's Shareholders' Meeting endorsed a dividend payment of $280 for each ordinary share.

This news comes after the president of Ecopetrol, Felipe Bayón, confirmed that the company is currently waiting to receive the environmental license for a second pilot comprehensive research project in Colombia.

The application for environmental licensing for the second pilot project called Platero was filed on February 15 with the environmental authority. “These pilots are important because they allow the country to decide in an informed way, with data, with science and technology, with working with communities, whether or not the country wants to frack, whether or not it wants to use this technology to make more reservations,” said the president of Ecopetrol during the General Shareholders' Meeting in Bogota.

This Comprehensive Research Pilot Project (PPII), would be promoted by the National Hydrocarbons Agency (ANH) and the US oil company ExxonMobil and would be located in the sedimentary basin of the Middle Magdalena Valley. According to the state entity, the El Platero project will have an investment of 53 million dollars. Likewise, “7 percent will be allocated to local content within the section of supply of goods and services,” Ecopetrol said.

With this new project, there would be two pilot research projects that Ecopetrol would carry out in the country, with the aim of providing information so that the Government can make a decision on whether this crude oil exploitation technique should eventually be developed in the country. The Colombia Free Fracking Alliance expects to file for the fourth time before the Congress of the Republic, after July 20, a bill to prohibit fracking in Colombia.

As is known, on March 25, ANLA granted the environmental license to the first pilot project called Kale, located in Puerto Wilches, Santander. What comes after the announcement is to hope that the decision will be final, since civil organizations have already announced judicial remedies to reverse the permit of the environmental authority.

This was confirmed by Carlos Andrés Santiago, of the Colombia Free Fracking Alliance, who leads the movement that opposes fracking in the country. “We will file opposition appeals although we believe that the agreements that Ecopetrol has made with the ANLA is that this will come out if or if, so that replenishment resource will be unfavorable for us,” he said.

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