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The Minister of Environment (MinAmbiente) Luis Gilberto Murillo explained that green taxes, like a levy on carbon emissions, are important for Colombia’ sustainable development and for meeting the country’s environmental goals.

Hocol’s permit to develop the Toldado field was suspended by Cortolima due to environmental requirements and Ecopetrol (NYSE:EC) had to take action on alleged leaks detected in Santander. These and other environmental stories in our periodic summary.

Now a larger problem than attacks on pipelines or facilities, the illegal drug and mining trade and groups linked to the ELN guerrilla which steal crude using illegal valves has become one of Ecopetrol’s (NYSE:EC) primary concerns, and the activity also damages the ecosystem.

The Energy Mining Planning Unit (UPME) has updated its interim natural gas plan and warned that even though there are more years of natural gas reserves in the country than those of crude, this fuel has more worrisome consequences if supply becomes scarce. The UPME reinforced plans for importing.

An attempt by congressional members to place a tax on natural gas brought about a quick rejection from the Colombian Natural Gas Association (Naturgas). Lawmakers appear to have backed down, but it raises a number of questions as to the tax strategy for fossil fuels.

Ecopetrol (NYSE:EC) budgeted over CoP$10B for projects to improve the conditions and quality of life in communities of Meta, Casanare and Vichada. These and other Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) projects in our periodic summary.

With the recovery of oil prices, GeoPark (NYSE:GPRK), which has been in the country for four years, has positive prospects for 2017.

A port investment group (PIO SAS), is pushing forward to build Colombia’s second regasification plant called Puerto Solo, which would be located in Buenaventura, following the inauguration of Colombia’s first regasification plant Puerto Cayo in Cartagena.

The National Hydrocarbons Agency (ANH) expects oil price improvements to give a boost to exploration activities in 2017, and that in Colombia there will be more than 40 exploratory wells next year.

The USO is the union for Ecopetrol (NYSE:EC) workers and, perhaps surprisingly, one of the loudest voices against the oil industry and the ‘evil multinationals’ who dare to operate in Colombia.