The General Controller performed an audit of the Colombian Petroleum Institute (ICP), the research institute of Ecopetrol (NYSE:EC) and found 15 administrative findings, two fiscal and four “disciplinary” cases in its contracts worth a total of CoP$1.072B (US$370,000). Questions on an unsuccessful building of a butterfly sanctuary were also raised.
The legislative bill containing the constitutional reforms to facilitate the Havana agreements on peace passed their first debate in one session, but its main critics in the Centro Democrático party abstained, leading to confrontations with supporters of the bill.
The Baker Hughes US rig count is more than ten times higher than the Colombian count so we indexed the month-end counts to see trajectories and measure speed of reaction to the dramatic decline in crude oil prices since last June 2014.
The attack on the Transandino Pipeline (OTA) in June of this year has been labeled the worst in Colombia’s history due to the extensive environmental damage which occurred from the spilled oil. Four months on, the initial emergency measures are just now being concluded.
The Senate’s Sixth Commission held a debate on the legal framework for oil companies regarding roads, and said that the current laws for rural backroads are not doing enough to serve the community in producing regions.
A Cienega municipality administrator says Comptroller findings reflect administrative errors not funds misuse, meanwhile The Ministry of Mines and Energy (MinMinas) is allocating CoP$9B (US$3M) to incentivize production. These and other stories in our periodic roundup.
Oil-spill drills were carried out in Yopal and in Ecuador, meanwhile an actual oil spill and fire occurred after a tanker truck went off the road in Aguazul. These and other environmental stories in our periodic summary.
A report from security consulting firm Ágora confirms that it is not only pipeline and infrastructure explosive attacks that have dropped in 2015, but also extortion against hydrocarbons firms and kidnapping, with common criminals the main culprit.
The Ministry of Mines and Energy (MinMinas) and the Energy & Gas Regulation Commission (CREG) said they will regulate long term contracts signed in 2013 and 2014 so that they cannot rise faster than inflation.
The new president of the Colombian Association of Oil Engineers (ACIPET) Juan Carlos Rodríguez has taken up his role and says that the industry cannot use oil prices as an excuse for a crisis, and complemented authorities on the measures taken thus far, but sees a need for more fiscal relief.
2026, Hydrocarbons Colombia, All Rights Reserved.
