Colombia’s Ecopetrol has struck an agreement with trade unions to raise workers’ salaries in the face of inflation, as well as to support communities near the company’s facilities.
And the company stated – in a press release issued on Monday (May 22, 2023) – that it had reached a 4-year contract with 7 unions, which specifies increases in workers’ salaries and social investment plans for the communities surrounding its facilities.
She added that the agreement with the Oil Industry Workers Union and smaller worker groups will be valid from January 1, 2023 until December 31, 2026, according to the statement, which was seen by the specialized energy platform.
Details of the workers wage increase
Colombia’s Ecopetrol said workers would receive a bonus added to annual inflation of 1.5% for 2023 and 1.6% for the next 3 years.
“The agreement includes improvements in working conditions for workers, and a commitment to continue to promote diversity, equality and inclusion, with a focus on gender,” the company said.
This deal will benefit about 79% of the company’s 9,500 workers, according to Reuters news agency, quoting a Colombian Ecopetrol spokesman.
In a statement published on its website, the Oil Industry Workers Union praised the increase in total wages by 14.62% for the year 2023, and the increase in social investments in the communities near the company’s facilities.
She explained that it was agreed to increase social investment for the oil communities by $21 billion, and $8 billion for social and economic transformation projects, according to information monitored by the specialized energy platform.
Consumer prices in Colombia rose by 13.12% in 2022, while the technical team of the Central Bank expected a figure of 9.5% for the current year (2023).
Artificial intelligence enhances production
In another context, the new CEO of the Colombian company Ecopetrol, Ricardo Roa, revealed that the company will take advantage of artificial intelligence within a series of new technologies, to improve exploration success rates and enhance production from existing fields.
Roa said the state-owned oil company will use “new technologies, with artificial intelligence, combined with data analysis” to make Ecopetrol’s oil fields “a bit smarter”.
“This is to make crude oil production more efficient in the different wells that Ecopetrol currently owns,” he added, according to statements seen by the specialized energy platform, quoting Reuters.
Roa said that enhancing oil field efficiencies could raise daily production to about 1 million barrels of oil equivalent per day.
Currently, Ecopetrol produces 709.5 thousand barrels per day of oil equivalent.
Roa told reporters that Ecopetrol will increase the extraction factor in its oil fields by at least 2 percent, adding that the current extraction factor in the oil fields belonging to Ecopetrol is about 19 percent.
He added that Ecopetrol will also work to increase its exploration success from the current rate, which ranges between 18% and 20%, without giving a new target.
Switch to green energy
Colombia’s Ecopetrol’s acquisition of 51.4% of Energy Alliance ISA was the company’s first “responsible decision” to transition to greener renewables.
Ecopetrol bought the stake in ISA from the Colombian government for 14.2 trillion pesos ($3.1 billion) in 2021.
Commenting on the transaction, CEO of Colombia’s Ecopetrol, Ricardo Roa, said: “When Ecopetrol acquired ISA, it acquired a business different from the oil and gas business.”
He added, “This is the diversification of the business portfolio, i.e. separating wealth generation from what is today the main source of Ecopetrol – gas and oil – to find economic and profitable income options for the future.”
It is noteworthy that Ricardo Roa officially assumed the position of CEO on April 24, 2023, after being appointed earlier in the month, to replace former President Felipe Bayon; Amid an attempt by the government of leftist President Gustavo Petro to stop Colombia’s dependence on oil and gas.
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