Colombian President Gustavo Petro | File Image
Petro: We are against fracking, because fracking is the death of nature, and the death of humanity
By Valentine Amanze
Colombian President Gustavo Petro has ordered the state-run oil company, Ecopetrol, to cancel a joint venture with a U.S.-owned company [Occidental] that was expected to produce around 90,000 barrels of oil per day, citing environmental concerns.
In a nationally televised speech on Tuesday, Petro said that he opposed the recent extension of a deal between Ecopetrol and Occidental Petroleum, or Oxy, because it involved extracting oil through fracking, a controversial technique used to extract oil and gas from shale rock – a method that has been criticized by environmental groups.
“I want that operation to be sold, and for the money to be invested in clean energies,” Petro said in a meeting with his Cabinet that was livestreamed on social media, according to Associated Press (AP).
“We are against fracking, because fracking is the death of nature, and the death of humanity.”
Also read: COP29: No going back on $8trn climate reparation – HOMEF, CAPPA, others
Ecopetrol had announced on Monday that it would renew its operations with Oxy in the Permian basin, an oil producing region that spans Texas and New Mexico, to develop 91 oil wells, investing over $880 million.
Ecopetrol said that its projects in the Permian basin produced an average of 95,200 barrels of oil per day in the first nine months of last year.
Operations in the Permian basin made up around 12% of Ecopetol’s total production last year.
Ecopetrol, controlled by the Colombian government but also listed on the New York Stock Exchange, saw its shares rise two per cent on Tuesday following the announcement of its deal with Occidental.
However, they fell slightly after Petro called for the agreement’s cancellation.
Colombia has refused to approve fracking projects on its territory, though it had not previously blocked Ecopetrol from taking part in fracking ventures overseas.
Environmentalists argue that fracking can pollute water sources and cause tremors.
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