Despite signs of advances over the second half of this year, regulations for how to proceed with the production of Coal Bed Methane (CBM) are still not ready, although the government says it is working intensely to address the issue.
An absence of exploratory results from the hydrocarbons industry is likely to extend until 2017 warns the National Association of Financial Institutions (ANIF), and Ecopetrol’s (NYSE:EC) results will continue to suffer despite production increases, representing a loss of between 1-2% of the GDP.
ANH President Mauricio de la Mora was practically exuberant at a ceremony in the ANH’s offices on Wednesday. And why not? Canacol (TSX:CNE) and ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) were signing the agency’s first additional unconventional contract and victory had been snatched from the jaws of defeat.
The National Planning Department (DNP) has formalized modifications to the General Royalty System (SGR) and published a statement that outlines the changes and the rational for making them.
Ecopetrol (NYSE:EC) held a shareholders meeting in Medellín and said that it would strengthen its exploration activities abroad, setting an investment goal per year of US$1.25B on average, destined for the Gulf of Mexico, Peru, Brazil and Colombia’s offshore blocks.
The Minister of Mines and Energy Tomás González said the government has agreed to link the natural gas price for the Caribbean coast to the WTI crude oil price index and to start infrastructure work to connect the region. Meanwhile the Colombian Petroleum Association (ACP) blasted the pricing modifications as a change of the rules, and questioned what would happen when WTI rises again.
A Casanare tribunal declared a recent public hearing a failure after community leaders from the village of Tesoro Buby in Aguazul rejected a proposal from Perenco on the grounds it does not address all of their claims. The company said the proposal exceeds its responsibility.
As part of its deal with business sectors of the Caribbean coast, the Ministry of Mines and Energy (MinMinas) is moving forward with plans to hold a tender to build a gas pipeline that will connect the Atlantic coast.
The Colombian country manager of Gas Natural Fenosa, González Santos, said that the supply of natural gas is assured and the matter is “not so complicated”, but the country must be ready to import gas when the hydro-electric grid is short on water.
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