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Colombia's Petro cancels joint oil venture with US company
Colombia President's Gustavo Petro addresses the 79th session of the United Nations General Assembly at United Nations headquarters, September 24, 2024
COLOMBIAN President Gustavo Petro ordered the state-run oil company Ecopetrol to cancel a joint venture with a United States-owned company, citing environmental concerns on Tuesday.
In a nationally televised speech, Mr Petro said he opposed the recent extension of a deal between Ecopetrol and Occidental Petroleum because it involved extracting oil through fracking.
Fracking is a controversial technique, used to extract oil and gas from shale rock, criticised by many environmental groups for polluting water sources and causing earth tremors.
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