Ecopetrol Company Profile Ecopetrol Is Thesis

Though not the sole operator in its industry in Colombia, the company provides the vast majority of oil and natural gas products to the domestic market, and its international market share makes it one of the world's thirty-five largest petroleum companies (Sourcewatch 2010). Ecopetrol has also established a very strong market presence in the Caribbean and South America; fluctuations in purchasing overall and through competition with other regions -- particular the Middle East -- make the establishment of a single concrete measure of market segment fairly difficult (Ecopetrol 2010).

Domestic and Export Strategy

Again, Ecopetrol's state-owned status plays a large role in determining the company's strategy for in its domestic market. The company has essentially monopolized much of the hydrocarbon resources that exist within Colombia's borders, and through its existence as a governmental organization has a much greater deal of price flexibility than its domestic competitors (Ecopetrol 2010; Sourcewatch 2010). Through resource control and pricing, Ecopetrol remains poised as the leading provider of petroleum, gasoline, and natural gas products without needing any major adjustments or plans for future events 9 Sourcewatch 2010). The company's highly profitable export operations also assist in the company's ability to control domestic prices (Sourcewatch 2010).

These export operations utilize a very different strategy given the far more competitive nature of the market. As one of the world's largest petroleum companies, Ecopetrol was able to take advantage of the economic turmoil and shrinkage that occurred over the past two years and has acquired smaller firms that aid in its expansion of its international efforts and market share (Google Finance 2010). A great deal of the company's profits are derived from exportation, and as developing new resources is both highly costly and somewhat uncertain the regular and even eager practice of acquisition that Ecopetrol has demonstrated in recent years can be taken as a safer, more assured, and cheaper method of increasing both product supply and international market share (Google Finance 2010; Hoovers 2010).This strategy will doubtless continue to be utilized by the company in the future.

Future Prospects

This future looks especially rosy for Ecopetrol. The recent acquisitions and expansions have only just begun to take effect, and Ecopetrol expects its total production to reach the equivalent of one million barrels of crude oil a day, with refining and distribution operational growth to match this increase (Ecopetrol 2010). The company's growth has been fairly well sustained in the past few decades taken as a whole, and the last decade's recent bump has done little to effect the company's long-term viability (Google Finance 2010). Continued expansion is a very likely prospect for Ecopetrol, and indeed many of its partnerships and planned international ventures have not even begin to begin operations; their success could lead to an even bigger expansion effort on the part of the company, further increasing its international market share and its resources (Business News Americas 2010).

There is a growing global movement to transition away from fossil fuels, especially petroleum products, both in an effort to curb the release of greenhouse gasses and to mitigate the eventual depletion of these resources, and this will likely have an effect on Ecopetrol and all petroleum companies at some pint in the future. For now, however, any effects that might exist due to these situations have yet to have any real impact on Ecopetrol's bottom line (Google Finance 2010). The company is already in the process of tapping into previously unexploited oil and natural gas reserves, and exploratory efforts both on land and in the Gulf of Mexico also appear to be quite promising (Business News Americas 2010).

References

Business News Americas. (2010). "Ecopetrol." Accessed 20 February 2010. http://member.bnamericas.com/company-profile/en/Ecopetrol_S,a,-Ecopetrol#nogo

Ecopetrol. (2010). Accessed 20 February 2010. http://www.ecopetrol.com.co/english/contenido.aspx?catID=172&conID=37728

Google Finance. (2010). "Ecopetrol." Accessed 20 February 2010. http://www.google.com/finance?q=NYSE:EC

Hoovers. (2010). "Ecopetrol." Accessed 20 February 2010. http://www.hoovers.com/company/Ecopetrol_SA/shftyi-1.html

Sourcewatch. (2010). "Ecopetrol." Accessed….....