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The major development related to the General Royalty System (SGR) in September was the arrival of a new director of its overseeing entity, the National Planning Department. Tatyana Orozco took the post September 11, 2013 to a backdrop of questions and criticism of royalty delays.

In Monterrey protestors have blocked access to a pumping station while in Paz de Ariporo a blockade of Grupo Carso’s oil producer Tabasco Oil reaches a 45 day milestone.

Two weeks after reaching a collective agreement with the contractor in charge of the expansion construction of the Cartagena Refinery (Reficar), CB&I (NYSE:CB&I) the USO says now the firm is engaging in anti-union practices that could even warrant its expulsion from Colombia.

Former congressional representative John Leoncio Jaramillo Riaño has filed a series of eight lawsuits, or “Popular Actions” in local tribunals against the use of tanker trucks in municipalities in the Meta Department. The legal action looks to force the national government to build special highways for the tankers.

The USO is riding high this week after reaching a collective agreement last week with the construction contractor CB&I (NYSE:CBI) at the Cartagena Refinery (Reficar) after only three days of a general strike. The organization called it an important step in its struggle.

Representatives from 17 oil companies signed an agreement with the Casanare Departmental government in Yopal that establishes an action plan on social issues, productive projects and road infrastructure for the next two and a half years.

The central government is aware the general royalties system (SGR) is not working as best it could, a little more than a year after its implementation, and is open to making adjustments, according to the Mines and Energy Minister Amylkar Acosta.

In 2012 the oil and financial industries paid their employees the highest of any sector in the national economy, according to the annual report of Colombia’s Federation of Human Management (ARIC).

The USO said they reached an agreement with construction contractor CB&I (NYSE:CBI) at the helm of the expansion of the Cartagena Refinery expansion work days after workers left their post.

Casanare’s Chamber of Commerce held a seminar to assess progress over the last year and the executive director Carlos Rojas said that local businesses cannot continue letting opportunities in the oil industry “pass by their noses”.