The Rising Influence of Rising Affluence

[DewDiligence]

Surprising factoid—Columbia’s Ecopetrol now has a bigger market cap than Brazil’s Petrobras:

http://online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-20120516-714775.html

"There is very limited political interference [in Colombia]," Nathan Piper, an oil analyst at RBC Capital Markets, said… Colombia, for example, doesn't impose the same demands for locally produced goods and services in oil exploration and production as Brazil, which boosts costs and could slow down development, Piper noted.

According to the WSJ, Ecopetrol has the biggest market cap of any company based in Latin America.