Ecopetrol Shares Drop As Petro Proposes Shale Operation Sale

Ecopetrol SA shares plunged after Colombian President Gustavo Petro called on the oil producer to sell its operations in the US, citing his government’s position against fracking, which he says is destructive to nature and humanity.

Shares of the majority state-owned Ecopetrol fell as much as 2.4% in Bogota trading. The company had announced this week it was extending a joint venture with Occidental Petroleum Corp. in the Permian Basin in the southwestern US through June 2026. The final decision rests with Ecopetrol’s board, which has flip-flopped on approving deals on US assets before and whose only two independent members ...