EC - Ecopetrol S.A. (EC) Q1 2024 Earnings Call Transcript
2024-05-09 01:33:07 ET
Ecopetrol S.A. (EC)
Q1 2024 Earnings Conference Call
May 8, 2024 10:00 AM ET
Company Participants
Ricardo Roa Barragan - President
Alberto Consuegra Granger - Chief operating Officer
María Catalina Escobar Hoyos - Chief Value Officer
Hector Manosalva Rojas - President of Cenit
Nicolás Azcuénaga Ramírez - Vice President of Strategies
Felipe Trujillo - Marketing and Commercial Vice President
Conference Call Participants
Daniel Guardiola - BTG Pactual
Ricardo Sandoval - Bancolombia
Andres Duarte - Corficolombiana
Katherine Ortiz - Davivienda Corredores
Ana Guasca - Corredores Davivienda
Rodrigo Almeida - Banco Santander
Bruno Pascon - Goldman Sachs
Presentation
Operator
Good morning. My name is Natalia, and I will be your operator today. Welcome to Ecopetrol's Earnings Conference Call in which we will discuss the main financial and operational results for the first quarter 2024. There will be a questions-and-answer session at the end of the presentation.
Before we begin, it is important to mention that the comments in this call by Ecopetrol's senior management include projections of the company's future performance. These projections do not constitute any commitment as to future results, nor do they take into account risks or uncertainties that could materialize. As a result, Ecopetrol assumes no responsibility in the event that future results are different from the projections shared in this conference call.
The call will be led by Mr. Ricardo Roa, CEO of Ecopetrol; Alberto Consuegra, COO, and Maria Catalina Escobar, acting CFO. Thank you for your attention.
Mr. Roa, you may begin your conference.
Ricardo Roa Barragan
Good morning, everyone. Welcome to the first quarter of 2024 earnings call, a quarter in which we are moving forward on the path of growth. Thanks to the collected work and a part of all our employees and partners. The results show that we are still maximizing the opportunities in our traditional business. We continued to achieve excellent operational figures.
We closed the first quarter with a production of 741,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day, a transported volume of 1,118,000 million barrels per day and refining loads of 428,000 barrels per day with an high operational availability of our refineries in 96%, reaching levels comparable with the best refineries in Latin America.
During the quarter, we announced the commercial viability of the Arrecife gas field in the Cordoba department adding approximately 6.7 million cubic feet of gas and the signing of a gas exploration agreement in Piedmont Norte with Paris. This milestone is trading our commitment to the country's energy security. These achievements are complemented by the outstanding commercial strategy highlighting our subsidiary in Houston, Ecopetrol U.S. trading, which started operations in October 2023 with a commercialization of 16.7 million barrels of crude and products generating an EBITDA of $37.1 million and a net profit of $28.5 million in the first quarter of 2024, 185% above the plan for the period.
We are able to face that El Nino phenomenon with resilience implementing, planning, optimization and saving strategies throughout the operations and the processes. Examples include the accelerated maintenance at Cupiagua diesel timely delivery to the power plants and an 80% water reuse rate in our operations....
Ecopetrol S.A. (EC) Q1 2024 Earnings Call Transcript