Monterrey, Nuevo LeónEL SEMANARIO
A dozen years ago the petroleum resources of Colombia were said to belong to all Colombians, much the same as what Mexicans have been saying for 70-odd years since the nationalization of its own petroleum industry.
But it was a myth, says the commercial attache to the Colombian embassy in Mexico.
Sergio Escobar, who has been visiting Monterrey and northern Mexico this week, said his country’s energy reforms, undertaken 11 years ago, have been a success.
“Before our reforms, we used to say that the oil belonged to all of us, but that’s not how it was. It belonged to the state and the union. Twenty per cent of the shares in Ecopetrol (the national oil company) were sold on the stock exchange and were purchased by Colombians; we were very successful with that.”
Shares in that initial public offering were valued at 50 cents. After 12 years, said Escobar, they’re at more than $3.
The process gave the company new resources without having to resort to government funds, and with them it obtained new technology and the ability to explore new deposits. Production increased from 350,000 barrels a day to today’s level of 1 million barrels.
“Ecopetrol has been so successful that today it invests outside Colombia and one of those countries where it is looking to do business is Mexico . . . .”
Escobar forecast that Mexico will be successful with its energy reforms but warned they would take time to produce results. He said the states in the northeast of the country have great potential for being within the Burgos Basin, with its large deposits of shale gas.
The attache said he was in Monterrey to invite businesses to explore the opportunities that Colombia can offer in energy and other sectors. He pointed out that many companies from Nuevo León are already active in Colombia, naming Alfa, Cemex, Deacero, Femsa and Xignux.
Escobar said his country could be a strategic ally for northern Mexico, particularly Monterrey and Nuevo León, by being a bridge to increasing its presence in South America.
Correction: An earlier story on energy reforms and Pemex stated that the petroleum workers’ union would keep its five seats on the board. That information was incorrect; the union loses its representation as a result of the new legislation.
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