See Letter to JP Morgan and Industry Analysts regarding Ecopetrol IPO: http://www.amazonwatch.org/newsroom/view_news.php?id=1647
New York, N.Y. — Investors were urged today not to buy Ecopetrol shares, expected to be listed on the New York Stock Exchange on Thursday, over concerns about the Colombian state-oil company’s inadequate commitment to corporate social responsibility and mishandling of controversial projects within indigenous reserves exposes the company and its investors to significant financial and reputational risks.
The call came in a letter from environmental group Amazon Watch to a number of industry analysts and as well as to JP Morgan, the underwriter for the offering. The letter details discrepancies between Ecopetrol’s current plans and activities and claims the company made in its statement to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) about its operations in indigenous reserves.
The statement to the SEC claims that Ecopetrol “may not begin to explore for or produce hydrocarbons in [indigenous land] until we reach an agreement with the indigenous communities living on these lands”. However, Amazon Watch reports that Ecopetrol is already carrying out exploratory drilling on U’wa land, at a well known as Gibraltar 3 and plans to expand seismic testing deep in the heart of the U’wa Reserve despite strong opposition from the community.
U’wa spokesperson Armando Tegria said: “It is not good business to buy Ecopetrol shares, because this Colombian company is exterminating indigenous cultures, contaminating the environment, and denying the rights that the Colombian native indigenous population has to their ancestral lands — rights which are backed by national and international laws.”
“Investing in Ecopetrol is even riskier than the company lets on,” said Andrew Miller, Amazon Watch Colombia campaigner. “JP Morgan would appear to be breaching its own company standards as well as the Equator Principles, of which it is a signatory, by underwriting these shares.”
Ecopetrol previously listed the 20 million American Depositary Shares with the SEC, each one representing 20 common shares. It put up them up for trading on the NYSE today.
For background on the U’was struggle to protect their land from oil drilling, visit www.amazonwatch.org.
