The Wall Street Journal largely attributed recent growth in the Colombian economy to a reduction in violence, Thursday.
Colombia’s economy grew 5.9% in the last year with the nation’s GDP expected to expand by 4.7% in 2012, according to the WSJ.
The WSJ argued the recent economic growth was due to Colombia’s improving security situation and its ability to attract foreign investment. It cited the strengthening of the army, prosecution of drug lords and reduction in terrorist acts and kidnapping were important factors.
It also highlighted the potential of Colombia’s oil sector, estimating, “If the government manages to raise oil production to nearly 1.5 million barrels (…) Colombia could see substantial growth in the energy sector.”
However, continued stability in Colombia, upon which economic growth depends, is far from guaranteed.
Oil pipelines in Colombia have been hit by a wave of alleged guerrilla attacks over the last six months. A total of 67 attacks have occurred since the beginning of 2012, a 300% increase from 2011, Colombia’s ministry of defense said recently.
Due to the violence, Colombia’s state-owned oil company, Ecopetrol, decreased its daily oil production forecast for 2012 Wednesday from 800,000 barrels per day to 780,000, a decline of 2.5%. Ecopetrol is Colombia’s largest oil producer.
On July 18, Colombia’s Ministry of Energy reported that crude oil output stood at 934,000 barrels per day in June, compared to 939,000 from the same period last year.
