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The Fourth Labor Court of Santa Marta issued a ruling mandating Ecopetrol, the Ministry of Mines and Energy (MinEnergia), Petrobras (NYSE: PBR), and the National Environmental Licensing Authority (ANLA) to halt all gas exploration and extraction activities at the Uchuva 2 well in the Tayrona block.

The Colombian government, alongside natural gas companies, has established a Unified Command Post (PMU) to guarantee a steady supply of gas across the country.

A political control debate, scheduled for Ecopetrol’s President Ricardo Roa and the company’s board of directors to discuss the current state of the oil company, was notably missing its key participants.

An oil storage tank belonging to Ocensa, a subsidiary of Ecopetrol (NYSE: EC), exploded in the town of Tauramena, Casanare, Colombia.

A few weeks ago, we attended a meeting of the Colombo-Canadian Chamber of Commerce’s Mining and Energy Committee, which was held in the offices of Dentons Cardenas & Cardenas. The topic concerned changes to Colombia’s environmental sanctioning law and while the industry hopes never to have to confront a sanctionable situation, it is important to understand the penalties and how they might be assessed. We asked Maria Margarita Lorduy, Head of the Environmental Law Department at Dentons Cardenas & Cardenas to provide our readers with a brief overview.

Colombia faces a potential surge in gas prices as domestic reserves dwindle, and the government remains opposed to new hydrocarbon exploration projects.