The Ministry of Mines and Energy (MinMinas) announced a decrease in fuel prices for January 2019. The National Administrative Department of Statistics (DANE) spoke about the behavior of this metric in 2018.
Colombia has not had oil rounds for several years, which has affected the sector’s outlook for the medium and long term. However, the National Hydrocarbons Agency (ANH) plans to offer new areas in the coming weeks.
Climate change and misinformation, among other issues, have pressured the industry to reinvent itself and adjust to a new reality. Julio Cesar Vera, president of the Colombian Association of Petroleum Engineers (Acipet) explains how he believes the process is going.
The Minister of Mines and Energy (MinMinas), Maria Fernanda Suarez, highlighted the importance of the industry for Colombia’s social and economic development, especially in the department of Santander.
Colombia-focused oil companies dutifully did their 2019 planning, a meticulous process requiring formal Board approval, which can take many months to complete. But at the beginning of October, Brent started to slide nearly 37%, from US$84.16 on October 5th to US$53.21 on December 28th, although it was up considerably last week (Jan 4th) to US$57.06.
The Constitutional Court has been active lately, addressing a number of important issues like the apparent legal conflict between the central government’s ownership of the subsoil resources and local communities’ rights to determine what happens on the surface. We were talking with Hernán Rodríguez, Partner at Dentons, Cárdenas and Cárdenas about the conundrum and he offered this discussion of so-called ‘Cumaral ruling’ which resolves some issues but introduces others.
In its December 13, 2018 Board meeting, the ANH made several important decisions, designed to improve block assignment and restart exploration.
MinMinas reported that November 2018 oil production was 883 mbd. The last time the figure was in the 880’s was June 2016 when it was 888 mbd. Gas production was also up substantially in the month.
The Colombian Chamber of Goods and Services (Campetrol) reported its drill rig information for November 2018. The good trend continues, as the industry reported more rigs working in this period compared to November 2017 and previous month.
The low levels of oil and gas reserves have generated concerns in Colombia and the lack of exploratory activity has increased these worries. María Fernanda Suarez, Minister of Mines and Energy (MinMinas) spoke about the government’s plans for the industry and its future.
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