(Energy Analytics Institute, 8.Mar.2022) — Bogotá-based Ecopetrol is eying opportunities abroad where there are synergies between the transmission and oil and gas business.
Ecopetrol’s move into the transition sector is part of the company’s decarbonization and electrification efforts which also include a continued focus on low-cost and low carbon opportunities.
Ecopetrol’s purchase last year of electricity transmission company Interconexion Electrica S.A. ESP (ISA), which has operations in Argentina, Brazil, Chile and Peru, among other countries, perfectly aligns with its strategies.
RELATED STORY: Ecopetrol Closes ISA Transaction
Opportunities being prioritized and deemed attractive to Ecopetrol are in countries that include Brazil, Chile and the US and ISA has a massive pipeline of business development opportunities, Ecopetrol CFO Jaime Caballero said on 8 March 2022 during CERAWeek by S&P Global.
“We estimate that pipeline or we actually quantify it at around $36 billion of opportunities. It doesn’t mean you are going to pursue all of them but… if we can have a success rate of between 10% to 20% we would be on track with our growth strategies,” Caballero told Energy Analytics Institute (EAI) on the sidelines of the event.
Caballero said Ecopetrol should be seen as an “integrated energy company with a very strong oil and gas business, a very strong E&P business,” but he added “we are more than that.”
In the context of opportunities in the US market, Caballero said Ecopetrol was looking at things related to ISA’s capabilities that “make sense” and “bring a distinctive competitive edge.”
“Increasing demand for linking suburban areas to urban centers or linking the coast to the center of the country, the places where generation occurs and where consumption occurs, in massive,” Caballero added.
____________________
By Piero Stewart. © Energy Analytics Institute (EAI). All Rights Reserved.
