Ecopetrol SA (NYSE:EC) stock rose 4.89% (As on November 14, 11:28:00 AM UTC-4, Source: Google Finance) after the company in the third quarter of FY 24 has posted better than expected results. EC has reported Q3 net income attributable to owners of the company of 3.649 trillion Colombian pesos ($813.50 million), down from 5.086 trillion pesos a year earlier. Analysts polled by Capital IQ expected 3.384 trillion pesos. Sales for the quarter ended Sept. 30 were 34.607 trillion pesos, compared with 35.130 trillion pesos a year earlier. Analysts surveyed by Capital IQ expected 32.813 trillion pesos. This is due to A decrease of -10.5 USD/Bl (COP -3.2 trillion) in the average weighted price of the sales basket due to lower Brent benchmark prices and the loss of the refined products spread, which was partially offset by the narrowing of the negotiated crude spread. An increase in service revenues (COP +1.3 trillion) primarily from the energy transmission and toll roads business line, as a result of the recognition of the non-recurring revenue associated with the effect of the tariff review for ISA’s subsidiaries in Brazil. An increase in sales volume (COP +1.1 trillion, +63.4 kboed), mainly from crude oil due to i) higher realization of inventories in transit, from effective sales management; and ii) higher availability of crude oil for export, driven by heightened production in the Permian Basin and lower requirements for refinery throughputs. An increase in the average COP/USD exchange rate, positively impacting revenues (COP +0.3 trillion).

Moreover, the total volume sold during 3Q24 amounted to 1,046.8 kboed, 6.4% higher than the volume sold in 3Q23, mainly due to the higher exported volume, a record sales volume for a quarter. International sales, which accounted for 59% of the total, increased by 16.1% (+85.5 kboed) in 3Q24 versus 3Q23, due to an increase of 17.5% (+71.2 kboed) in crude exports due to i) higher realization of crude volumes in transit due to commercial strategies and logistical optimizations in the chartering operation.; ii) higher volume of third-party trading operations; and iii) higher availability of crude for export due to lower refinery throughputs. An increase of 55.1% (+5.4 kboed) in natural gas sales from a successful Permian development campaign. An increase of 7.7% (+8.8 kboed) in exports primarly from vacuum gas oils primarily, due to the increase in their availability resulting from scheduled refinery shutdowns.