The management of the Cartagena Refinery (Reficar) has responded to accusations of environmental damage from the nearby settlement of Pasacaballos, saying it meets all the requirements and takes care to protect the environment. This and other environmentally related stories in our periodic roundup.
The Chamber of Oil Goods and Services (Campetrol) said that the current complications, court decisions and low prices facing oil production will contribute to a 11.9% year-over-year for 2016’s average daily production, to render 885,000bd of crude output for the year.
While the political clamor to modernize the Barrancabermeja Refinery continues, the facilities reported a net profit of CoP$238B (US$77.7M) in the first quarter of 2016, which represents a 360% improvement over the same period in 2015.
At least 90 cacao producers from Putumayo participated in a cacao ‘summit’ which took place in the department to debate the future of the industry, made possible with the support of Ecopetrol (NYSE:EC). This and other Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) stories in our periodic summary.
Even one of Colombia’s main business publications has questioned statements from the Minister of Mines and Energy Germán Arce, who argued that the technique should be applied in Colombia. What can be expected from the popular press?
Colombia’s Superintendente de Sociedades (SuperSociedades) compiled a comparison of the income, profits and assets of the country’s largest 1000 companies, and the mining/hydrocarbons sector registered one of the biggest drops over the last year.
May finished with a call by the ELN for a bilateral ceasefire, something that has not been achieved with the Farc even after years of negotiations. The government has not reacted but we doubt there would be much public support.
Last week, MinMinas finally published 2015 reserve data. Accentuating the positive, the press release talked mostly about probable and possible reserves, dismissing the decline in proven reserves as a temporary statistical phenomenon.
Editor’s Note: Warren Levy has been around Colombia and around the oil and gas industry for a long time. With an extensive history in the services industry, he has direct knowledge of the impact it can have on the countryside.
The Constitutional Court issued a ruling that eliminated a law which prohibited territorial authorities from prohibiting mining projects in their areas, but the Minister of Mines and Energy German Arce insists that it does not mean that extractive projects could be affected.