The Colombian government puts high hopes on offshore blocks for the 2014 Round of auctions. But today companies which won offshore blocks in previous round are ‘out-shooting’ those companies with onshore blocks.
After the recent pipeline attacks and simultaneous lowering of the government’s production target to 981mbd, MinMinas Amylkar Acosta and Colombian Petroleum Association (ACP) head Alejandro Martínez separately did the rounds of the national press. Both provided some interesting statistics and perspectives.
Over the past few weeks, the focus of environmental criticism has shifted from the oil companies themselves to the impact of crude spills from guerrilla attacks on infrastructure. But E&P companies are not completely off the hook.
Multiple projects for new hydrocarbons ports are planned for Cartagena and Buenaventura. The Buenaventura projects are additional to the plans that the Pacific Pipeline has for connecting the Llanos to Asia Pacific markets.
President Juan Manuel Santos, in the heat of his contested re-election promised to restrict the flow tanker trucks on the roads of Huila, promising to ship oil via Ecuador, banning the tankers presence on Sundays and holidays after residents expressed their complaints.
The Minister of Mines and Energy (MinMinas) Amylkar Acosta paid a visit to the Casanare Department to outline an agreement and to dialogue, while the local authorities had plenty of questions and requests for the official to improve the situation in this oil producing region.
The 2014 Colombia Round is slated to start receiving bids this month, and the president of the National Hydrocarbons Agency (ANH) says everything is looking good so far. He also talks about the competition that the round faces globally to attract interested investors.
Both guerrilla kept up the pressure this week as incidents went up to 38, above recent and long-term averages.
There is growing interest in Colombia’s potential for offshore production, and there are four planned offshore exploration wells in Colombia’s Caribbean waters, but greater incentives are needed to boost this incipient industry.
The USO never shies from voicing a good conspiracy theory, but this week they ventured past Colombia’s border to denounce what they say is a plan by US, French and Saudi interests to bolster the international price of crude through support of the radical Islamist group ISIS (Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant), and divide the region into separate colonies with the interests of the oil industry in mind.
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