Recently, the National Environmental Licensing Agency granted the country’s first license for non-conventional hydrocarbons. The testing will take place in the villages known as Dominguito and Patiño in the municipality of Buenavista, Boyacá in a region better known for emeralds and dairy cattle than oil and gas. The block is known as Chiquinquira and is operated by Nexen which has adjacent exploration blocks in the same high plateau region.