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The public hearing to grant the environmental license for the Llanos 10 exploratory drilling project came to a close, and with no fanfare, or public condemnation of the project, authorities or grandiose accusations.

Downstream Demand and PricingWTI has been rising steadily all quarter and while Brent has had more ups and downs, these have all been in a tight band around the long term average.

The Colombian government will move forward on its section of pipeline that is slated to connect to neighboring Venezuelan and reach the Pacific coast in Colombia, a project designed to increase access to the Asian markets for both countries. Delays from the Venezuelan NOC, PDVSA, have led Colombian authorities to jump start the program alone.

The Ministry of Mines and Energy and the infrastructure unit of Pacific Rubiales Energy (TSX:PRE) have penned the concession contract to build the Olecar Pipeline, another attempt to mitigate the complicated logistical scenario of sending crude to ports in tankers.

Last Sunday Colombia voted in a new round of congressional leadership, and ex-President Alvaro Uribe picked up a Senate seat, giving the vocal opponent of the peace process a much large venue to voice his opinions than his usual tweets.

GasThe Ministry of Mines and Energy (MinMins) cast away any shadow of doubt that the regasification plant contract that has faced scrutiny in the local press is anything short of a sure thing.

Peru’s Mines and Energy Eleodoro Mayorga has announced that the government will eliminate the requirement for environmental impact studies for seismic exploration to encourage investment, a move that could mean more interest in the Andean country over the complexities of seismic exploration in Colombia.

The president of the National Federation of Palm Oil Growers (Fedepalma), Jens Mesa, said a recent resolution from the Ministry of Mines and Energy to fix the price to the biofuel producer is “straight out of a Chavista court”.

A high court ruling has impeded efforts from several municipalities to use a public referendum as a tool against allowing nearby oil production. Local leaders are taking different readings of the ruling.

The General Royalty System (SGR) has been in place for a little more than a year and already there is a brewing discussion as to the effectiveness in the new program, which has oil producing regions up in arms and calling for change.