News and AnalysIs for

Oil gets much of the attention but from a domestic politics point of view, gas is perhaps more important. The government has been pushing development of gas as a substitute for dirtier fuels and as part of an integrated strategy for electrical generation. From a MinMinas press release, translated and with commentary by Hydrocarbons Colombia.

This week the forum on political participation organized by the United Nations Office on Colombia and the Colombian National University Think Tank for Peace took place. The purpose of the forum was to create a space for participation in which citizens were invited to express their views on the peace process.

Here we define a new set of stock price indices – Exploration Exposed and Production Exposed – where we exclude companies for which Colombia is only a minor part of their business (like Oxy or Petrobras).

We have wanted to talk to Chris Spaulding of Talisman for some time now. Talisman’s worldwide strategy has changed considerably over the past year and especially since a change of CEO occurred in September, 2012.

Newspaper El Nuevo Siglo interviewed Jorge Bendeck, Fedebiocombustibles president, who referred to the advantages of using biofuels and the current state of the sector in the country. According Bendeck, although the government has supported the biofuels industry, it does not stimulate domestic consumption.

The country’s reserve report for 2012 has been much anticipated because prior signals were not very positive. Government officials publicly worried about reserve-production ratios as did the Colombian Petroleum Association (ACP). The three of the largest companies (Ecopetrol, Pacific Rubiales, Petrominerales) did not have good years for oil exploration in Colombia. We think ‘Small Oil’ made up the difference. Overall, this is good news but our commentary points out that there is still much to do. From a MinMinas press release, translated and with commentary by Hydrocarbons Colombia

A timely workshop organized by MinMinas investigated crisis management for the hydrocarbons industry, presumably directed at the ongoing issue of community blockades. This is becoming a serious issue for many companies, more serious perhaps than the guerrilla so the ministry picked the right priority. From a MinMinas press release, translated and with commentary by Hydrocarbons Colombia.

This month we have an opinion piece by the ACP’s Alejandro Martínez, interviews with Talisman’s Chris Spaulding and Enbridge’s John Gerez, an amazing fact about Venezuelan oil revenues, our opinion on the chances of success of the current peace process and we update our Colombian stock price indexes.

Santiago Angel Urdinola, VP of Mining, Oil and Energy, of national business persons association ANDI gave a speech where he suggested that the country might experience shortages and rationing by 2019. This got Naturgas – the association that represents natural gas distributors, transporters and producers – upset and they issued this press release. Translated and with commentary by Hydrocarbons Colombia.

The USO continues to publish stories that Ecopetrol is not paying contractors (and so the contractors are not paying their workers). This week Ecopetrol workers at the Chichimene station held a work stoppage in sympathy.