News and AnalysIs for

Professor Freddy Humberto Escobar gave a talk at Javeriana University about the debate between oil and water.

The trend in security incidents near oil or gas infrastructure continued to slide in June 2017. The only recorded guerrilla-initiated events were either attributed to the ELN directly or took place in traditional ELN territory.

The union said that the forum organized by the Colombian Association of Petroleum Engineers (Acipet) hosted opens the door to a much needed dialogue regarding fracking.

Claudia González, director of the National Environmental Licensing Authority (ANLA) spoke about fracking and delays in decisions for the industry.

The intention to carry out anti-oil and mining referendums continues to grow around Colombia. The industry has many concerns, and these grow with a move to carry out referendums to approve or deny offshore exploration.

Within June 7^th to July 7^th, the Verification Mechanism Committee for the Peace Process reported three violations to the cease-fire; two of them committed by Farc and one by the Government.

The sector is facing a boom of popular referendums, which is creating legal uncertainty among investors. Germán Arce, MinMinas, spoke about the sector and its benefits for country and the department of Meta.

The Ministry of Mines and Energy had announced a reduction in fuel prices for July, but a few days later changed this decision and increased them. The Colombian Federation of Cargo and Logistics Transporters (Colfecar) referred to this switch and gave recommendations.

The 23 municipalities that have popular consultation processes against oil activities might jeopardize the production of around 120mbd, and the future of at least 14 exploration projects.

With the aim of boosting the national economy, the government will speed up the implementation of un-used royalties during the second half of this year, and will seek to approve hundreds of projects in all regions. These and other stories in our periodic Royalties summary.