Canacol Energy Ltd. recorded the largest drop among Toronto-listed oil producers, with Colombia, falling as much as 9.3% on Monday, the biggest daily drop since May 2020. Parex Resources Inc. and Gran Tierra Energy Inc. fell 11 cents each. However, Eight Capital analyst Phil Skolnick said the downturn was a “buying opportunity”. “We continue to believe that radical change is difficult due to the balance of power in Colombia,” Skolnick wrote in a research note Monday, saying Petro would find it difficult to advance his agenda at a split conference. Petro said he wanted to stop auctions of new oil and gas exploration units. However, many entities have assets in areas that are unlikely to be affected, said Skolnick, who also noted that 20 percent of government revenue comes from royalties, dividends and taxes from state-owned oil company Ecopetrol SA. Additional private-sector oil and gas companies, including Geopark Ltd., may show weakness when US markets reopen on Tuesday after the June holiday. Skolnick noted that Colombian presidents are “limited to a four-year term” which means “the winner is essentially a lame duck, in our view.”
