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Criticism of the General Royalty System has not stopped the National Planning Department (DNP) director from promoting its impact and future, the head of the DNP royalties department visits to inspect projects in Casanare and a VP candidate lashes out at a event after receiving questions about the royalty issue. These stories in our roundup of royalty related events and reports.

Through the Business Association for the Development of Orinoquia (Asorinoquia), regional government entities are looking to create public-private initiatives that would compensate for the lack of hydrocarbons royalties and finance needed infrastructure investments.

Ecopetrol says that it has been busy in Barrancabermeja where it says it invests CoP$206B (US$107.4M) annually into Corporate Social Responsibility Projects (CSR). That and other CSR programs from Equion, Parex and more.

Repair work on the Caño Limon- Coveñas Pipeline has finally been completed after spending more than two months out of service after successive pipeline bombings and a conflict with the U´WA indigenous group that blocked repair crews.

The USO said that it will include the use of outsourced labor as an agenda item in the upcoming collective bargaining agreement process with Ecopetrol (NYSE:EC) and that the topic is already on the table in discussions in Cartagena.

Members of the Civic Committee in Defense of the Las Ceibas Riverbasin will take their cause to the State Council in order to annul an E&P contract held by a subsidiary of Pacific Rubiales Energy (TSX:PRE), despite confirmations from the company and government that the E&P work will not go forward.

The reform of the system to distribute royalties from oil and mining have been detrimental to producing regions, forcing them to deal with the environmental and infrastructure issues create by the industries but without the benefit of royalty income, said the Minister of Mines and Energy Amylkar Acosta.

Ecopetrol (NYSE:EC) has released contracting figures for the first quarter of 2014, when the Company contracted 41% more in value terms compared to the same period last year. Bogotá based companies continue to have a greater share of the NOC contracts.

Our list of corporate social responsibility projects (CSR) over the last two weeks has been dominated by Ecopetrol (NYSE:EC), who has made a splash in local press through a series of different initiatives and projects. A cynic would say, “it must be an election year”, an optimist, “good job”.

Following another round of talks in a process that have stretched for more than 2 years, involving departmental and national government intervention, 10 oil operators signed an agreement with a group of local transportation firms. The number pales in comparison to the 48 oil companies operating in the department, and the largest: Pacific Rubiales (TSX:PRE) and Ecopetrol (NYSE:EC) did not sign.