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Luis Gilberto Murillo has been named by President Juan Manuel Santos as the new Ministry of Environment. What will the former governor of Chocó and a mining engineer with formal training in the USSR bring to this embattled position?

USO president Cézar Loza warned that Ecopetrol (NYSE:EC) president Juan Carlos Echeverry and its board of directors have a plan to dismember the NOC and sell it off like the government did with energy producer Isagén.

Before the controversy surrounding the environmental license of Hupecol in La Macarena emerged Colombia had already received global attention for being a leader in the number of environmentally related conflicts, second only to India.

The ELN guerrilla has an enormous debt with Colombians due to the damage to the environment from its continued attacks over the years, said the government’s lead negotiator in talks with the group, Frank Pearl.

Could Colombia use unconventional blocks to attract new investment, despite the low price of oil? As unlikely as it seems, there is already one successful example.

The Colombian Association of Oil Engineers (ACIPET) issued a statement regarding the reversal of Hupecol’s environmental license in La Macarena, and warned of a growing stigmatism of the oil industry and its activities. The result is heightened legal uncertainty and a lack of respect for the industry’s professionals.

The Regional Autonomous Corporations (CARS) defended their role in the awarding of environmental licenses and expressed concern that national authorities like the National Agency of Environmental Licenses (ANLA) have ignored their opinion and approved projects.

Casanare congressional representative Luis Hernando Otálora has reminded his constituents to have some restraint when making requests for the oil industry, focusing on local hiring for goods and services.

The Ministry of Mines and Energy (MinMinas) has the unfortunate claim of being the ministry with the largest share of controversy in this current government, but the Ministry of Environment (MinAmbiente) is not far behind.

Ecopetrol (NYSE:EC) president Juan Carlos Echeverry said that the firm does not see short term relief in the price of crude, and that it will continue “in crisis mode” for the foreseeable future, even for the next five years.