Navigating the issue of indigenous rights and adhering to the prior consultation processes is one of the challenges of a responsibly managed project, and in Latin America the experience has some notable differences to the rest of the world.
After a brief ray of sunlight in 2Q15, reality – in the form of a slowdown in the Chinese economy – sent oil prices lower, lower even than they were in 1Q15. However, September showed some signs of improvement driven (unfortunately) by troubles in the Middle East and to some extent by evidence of lower US production.
The president of the Colombian Chamber of Oil Goods & Services (Campetrol), Rubén Darío LIzarralde warns that “he who does not explore, does not produce”, citing a 19% drop in exploration investments among the eight largest operators in 2015.
Fuel retailer Terpel says that it is investing to innovate its service stations in order to create more loyal customers, and despite the fall in oil prices and a weak Colombian peso, its president Sylvia Escovar expects revenue growth this year of 10%.
Blockades kept Ecopetrol (NYSE:EC) from producing 11 million barrels in 2014, and a national paper takes a look at the charges that there are many Community Action Committees (JAC) with a mafia grip on oil activities in many of Colombia’s regions.
The USO’s ongoing collective bargaining with Petrosantander had been described with a more amicable tone in past statements by the union, but apparently there was not enough common ground to reach an agreement, as the negotiation processes closes without an accord.
Despite consistent reports on the sharp drop in exploration activities in Colombia, the president and CEO of GE’s (NYSE:GE) oil & gas division for Latin America, Patricia Vega, says the industry remains more active here than in other producing countries in the region.
Over the last week President Juan Manuel Santos has faced calls from both critics and government institutions to release the full details of the initial peace agreement announced on September 23, while the government insists that the guerrilla will face sanctions as part of the transitional justice.
The Ministry of Mines and Energy (MinMinas) says gasoline prices will fall in October based on a drop in its international price, although the exchange rate and biofuel prices meant diesel increased slightly, and also countered the decrease of gasoline.
The fall in oil prices has taken the magic out of public auctions of E&P blocks, and their effectiveness has fallen in different producing countries. Mexico recently finished the second phase of their Round One with some improvements, but not the stellar results authorities hoped for.
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