BOGOTA, Colombia, June 27, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — Ecopetrol S.A. (BVC: ECOPETROL; NYSE: EC), announced today that S&P Global Ratings has downgraded the company’s global credit rating to BB from BB+, while maintaining a negative outlook. This move mirrors the credit rating agency’s downgrade of the Republic of Colombia’s sovereign rating on June 26, 2025. Despite the global rating adjustment, S&P affirmed Ecopetrol’s Stand-Alone Credit Profile (SACP) at bb+.
In its report, S&P explicitly linked Ecopetrol’s global rating to the sovereign rating of Colombia, citing the company’s significance in national revenue, its status as a government-related entity, and its integral role in the nation’s energy transition. The negative outlook assigned to Ecopetrol directly reflects the outlook assigned to the sovereign.
Digging into the stand-alone rating, S&P anticipates Ecopetrol will maintain a leverage ratio (debt/EBITDA) between 2.0x and 2.5x, coupled with an EBITDA margin hovering around 40%. The agency also gave positive marks to Ecopetrol’s 2040 strategy, emphasizing its focus on growth prospects, reserve replacement, high refinery operational availability, and business diversification to fortify its investment portfolio.
The full report from S&P, detailing the rating action, is available here: https://www.capitaliq.spglobal.com/web/client?auth=inherit#ratingsdirect/creditresearch?artObjectId=101631815
Ecopetrol, the behemoth of Colombia, stands as a major integrated energy player in the Americas, employing over 19,000 individuals. The company controls over 60% of the hydrocarbon production across most transportation, logistics, and refining systems within Colombia. It’s a leader in petrochemicals and gas distribution. Further expanding its footprint, Ecopetrol has a 51.4% stake in ISA, giving the company a hand in energy transmission, real-time systems management (XM), and the Barranquilla – Cartagena coastal highway concession. Internationally, it has strategic basin positions across the Americas including the United States (Permian and Gulf of Mexico), Brazil, and Mexico. Through ISA and its subsidiaries, dominant positions for power transmission businesses are held in Brazil, Chile, Peru, and Bolivia, as well as road concessions in Chile and the telecommunications sector.
This release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the U.S. Securities Act of 1933 and the U.S. Securities Exchange Act of 1934. These statements involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ. Factors that could cause such a difference include, but are not limited to, market prices of oil & gas, our exploration and production activities, market conditions, applicable regulations, the exchange rate, the Company’s competitiveness and the performance of Colombia’s economy and industry. The company does not assume any obligation to update these forward-looking statements.
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