Ecopetrol shares closed at $2,685 on the BVC, their highest since October 2023, and the ADR hit US$14.62, a high not seen since June 2022. This comes amid the crisis over president Ricardo Roa's indictment for alleged influence peddling. The USO union demands his removal and threatens a strike.
Ecopetrol shares posted significant gains despite uncertainty over its president, Ricardo Roa. The stock closed at $2,685 on the Colombia Stock Exchange (BVC), its highest since October 2023, while the ADR reached US$14.62, not seen since June 2022. Analysts attribute this rebound mainly to international oil prices, which directly impact the Colombian state oil company's earnings. Felipe Campos, strategy and investments manager at Alianza, explained: “Here there is a fundamental driver and it is that the oil price has a huge influence on Ecopetrol's earnings.” He added that a sustained $20 increase in the average crude price could double the company's profits, likening it to regional peers like Petrobras. Campos noted that factors like politics and corporate governance are secondary to oil, though the market has already discounted deterioration in these areas. Juan Pablo Vieira, president of JP Tactical, stated that the rise boosts revenues, profits, and state fiscal resources via taxes, royalties, and dividends, while strengthening the Colombian peso and Colcap index. However, Vieira criticized Roa's situation, indicted by Colombia's Attorney General early in March 2026 for alleged influence peddling in buying a luxury apartment in Bogotá from an oil executive. Vieira said: “The president of the state company must leave the position and allow the company to proceed without being tarnished by the charges against him.” Roa also faces accusations of violating spending limits in Gustavo Petro's 2022 presidential campaign, fined over $5 billion COP (US$1.4 million). The Unión Sindical Obrera (USO) demanded the board remove Roa, arguing investigations worsen risks to the company's operations and strategy. USO president Martín Ravelo told Blu Radio that if Roa stays, the union will “mobilize workers” and consider a strike. In January, former USO leader César Loza joined the board.
