Page 7 - LatAmOil Week 26 2021

LatAmOil TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO LatAmOil

Operating profit came to TTD1.238bn For example, he said, Heritage funded
($185.1mn), marking a 25.8% drop on the year- $500mn worth of capital spending in FY 2020,
ago figure of $1.694bn ($249.4mn), while net investing in drilling and workovers, asset integ-
profit stood at TTD1.018bn ($149.8mn) for FY rity and infrastructure/technology upgrades. It
2020, down by 27.8% on the previous year’s fig- also boosted production levels while replacing
ure of $1.41bn ($207.6mn). 165% of its reserves, he stated.
Michael Quamina, the chairman of Heritage, Additionally, he noted, the company had
pointed out in the annual report that the decline settled all of its debt obligations and paid
in revenues and profits had stemmed largely TTD905mn ($133.2mn) worth of levies, roy-
from the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. alties and taxes to the government of Trinidad
“Heritage and its subsidiaries’ 2020 results are of and Tobago.
course set against the backdrop of the COVID- “Despite these historically low [oil] prices,
19 pandemic, which has disrupted every aspect Heritage was able to respond quickly and stra-
of life as we know it,” he commented. tegically by lowering its operating costs and
The worldwide spread of the disease helped deferring discretionary projects, implementing
keep world crude prices very low, which had storage as opposed to the sale of crude oil, which
consequences for Heritage’s financial perfor- avoided the loss of hundreds of millions of dol-
mance, Quamina noted. He said, though, that lars in the worst part of the price decline, and
his company had performed well under difficult resuming sales when the oil prices recovered,”
conditions. he added. ™

COLOMBIA
Ecopetrol secures extension of exclusivity

agreement for acquisition of ISA stake

ECOPETROL, Colombia’s national oil com-
pany (NOC), revealed last week that the gov-
ernment had agreed to extend the period during
which it has the exclusive right to negotiate for
a 51.4% equity stake in Interconexion Electrica
SA (ISA), the country’s electricity transmission
system operator (TSO).
In a statement dated June 24, Ecopetrol
reported that the end date of its exclusivity
agreement with the Ministry of Finance and
Public Credit (MHCP) had been pushed back
to August 31. The agreement had originally been
due to expire on June 30.
The NOC’s request for the extension is
related to its decision not to pay for the majority
stake in ISA via one of the options it had previ-
ously considered – namely, an offering of 8.5%
of its own shares.
According to the statement, Ecopetrol
has informed MHCP that it is now looking to
finance the transaction with a bank loan. If so,
the Colombian government’s stake in the NOC
would remain at 88.5%. Ecopetrol has offered to buy 51.4% of ISA (File Photo)
Ecopetrol pointed out that its finances had
improved since it announced its intention of business plan,” the NOC said.
buying the ISA stake earlier this year. “This “The disbursement of such credit facility
decision relies on the favourable evolution of the would be subject to the closing of the ISA trans-
financial situation of Ecopetrol Group, which action,” it added.
provides the flexibility to achieve the closing of Ecopetrol also stressed, though, that it was
the ISA transaction through a credit facility with still examining its options for covering the cost
international banks, and aligned with the lever- of diversifying its asset portfolio ahead of the
age parameters established in the company’s transition away from fossil fuels.

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