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We often get asked our opinion about where oil prices are going. If we could do that well, we would be trading not commentating.

Pacific Exploration & Production (TSX:PRE), formerly known as Pacific Rubiales, came out with the surprise announcement that its president and director, José Francisco Arata will retire from his position, effectively immediately.

If the most recent timeframe for the Cartagena Refinery (Reifcar) is correct, the facilities will be finished six years behind schedule, expected to begin operation end-2015 or the first quarter of 2016 and would be the most modern refinery in Latin America. If it is finished on time.

The current fall in oil prices, and commodities in general, has plenty in common with the price crisis felt in 2008. But there are several key differences that show today’s situation is the end of a super-cycle for commodities.

The Colombian oil industry is facing serious challenges for its long term future, and day-to-day fixes are not enough says the president of the Colombian Petroleum Association (ACP) Francisco Lloreda.

GeoPark has helped develop training programs on IFRS standards, meanwhile the firm also has assisted in the coordination of an educational seminar on free competition. These and other stories on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) in our periodic summary.

Spanish agro-industrial firm Riopaila-Castilla will inaugurate its US$133M sugarcane ethanol plant at the end of the month in the municipality of Zarzal, in Valle de Cauca.

Ecopetrol’s (NYSE:EC) stock has fallen to historic lows on the Bogota exchange and has also suffered in New York, while the company’s president Juan Carlos Echeverry calls for calm.

The Mining Energy Planning Unit (UPME) director Jorge Valencia says that whether it is through parallel networks, capacity increases or new routes to accommodate imported gas, more natural gas infrastructure is required to serve growing demand.

The USO says it has been observing the Cartagena Refinery (Reficar) project to make sure it has been meeting quality and labor standards as the process to finish the plant winds down.