The new Minister of Environment and Sustainable Development (MinAmbiente) Gabriel Vallejo has made his first public addresses to the congress and the national park service, giving the first glimpse into the authority’s priorities under his watch. Bottlenecks in environmental licensing were not mentioned.
Ecopetrol lived through “golden years” from 2007-2012 and now confronts not only a challenging operational scenario, but also questions affecting its potential moving forward.
Each day that passes anti-fracking fears spread to new areas, now with a local paper telling its Caquetá readership that the government has authorized the practice and the department will not be an exception, even though no plans exist for fracking in the department.
A rigorous regulatory framework proceeded the approval of fracking techniques says the Minister of Mines and Energy Tomás González (MinMinas) who looks to counter critics which have filled the media over the last two weeks.
While 2014 has proven to be a difficult year for Ecopetrol (NYSE:EC), its president Javier Gutiérrez says the company will return to its production goals in 2015 and produce a million barrels a day.
The General Controller’s office has gone through a roller coaster ride over the last week, but made sure to remind the government on the risks of oil production that utilizes fracking, due to its potential environmental impact.
A decision on whether or not Ecopetrol will take over the production contract of the Rubiales field will not be made until the middle of 2015, and the president of Ecopetrol Javier Gutiérrez has told the Senate that the NOC is capable of operating the field on its own.
Casanare congressional representative Jorge Abril Tarache addressed a congressional session and rejected the use of fracking techniques in Casanare, which he says has suffered the environmental impact of the oil industry, as well as the loss of royalties, damage by tanker trucks and more.
The count dropped to 37 this week, below recent but above long-term averages, and took the trend line with it but the distribution of incidents was the most unexpected.
Liria Manrique López, a delegate of labor rights NGO Coljusticia claims that oil companies have turned to lawyers and legal processes to counter community and union critics, a practice she says is designed to stamp out opposition to the industry.
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