Government and Farc negotiators are working in separate sessions until next Monday, June 20th, before starting an intensive round that press reports are billing to be one of the last. Meanwhile President Juan Manuel Santos warned the Farc could resume urban warfare if talks fail.
The Finance Minister Mauricio Cárdenas said that the government does not expect to receive any income from oil industry profits in 2016, and instead will likely face CoP$800B (US$265.4M) in returned taxes for oil companies.
Senate President Luis Fernando Velasco accused the government of charging illegal taxes in its fuel price formula even after they were struck down by a Constitutional Court ruling and alleged citizens are essentially subsidizing Ecopetrol (NYSE:EC).
A question from a subscriber – what is Colombia’s internal demand for crude? – provoked a top-of-mind answer, which is often not the correct answer. We were close but the graph shows the big numbers and the trend.
Attacks by the ELN guerrilla on the Coveñas/Caño Limon pipeline have rendered US$20B in damage to the oil infrastructure and another US$20B in environmental damage in the last 28 years, according to data released by Colombia’s Attorney General’s office.
An urgent agreement is needed to reactivate the oil industry. Colombia might have potential for oil, but it is not an oil country. This must be taken into account when forming competitive strategies to attract investment, said Juan Carlos Rodríguez Esparza, president of the Colombian Oil Engineers Association (ACIPET).
The National Agency of Environmental Licenses (ANLA) will be headed up by one of its current functionaries, Claudia Victoria González, after a previous candidate named by the Minister of Environment Luis Gilberto Murillo was ruled out, leading to public tensions.
Ecopetrol (NYSE:EC) is passing through a test due to fallen production and low prices, says the former Minister of Mines and Energy Amylkar Acosta, who believes that the NOC will be able to make it through, but without any idea of when this could conclude.
A feature in a national magazine explores the case of the Emerald Energy’s Nogal Block in Caquetá, which it says has become a symbol of resistance against oil production in the Amazon.This and other stories in our periodic summary.
The scandal surrounding the Cartagena Refinery (Reficar) might have fallen to a secondary status, but continues to make headlines. A Senate hearing last month, accusations of environmental damage and a full audit by the General Controller’s office have all taken shape over recent weeks.
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