Local news site NoticiasdeVillavicencio.com reports that inhabitants of the municipality of Cumaral (Meta) denounced that cracks in the area’s mountains have appeared due to oil companies’ seismic work.. The environment secretary of Villavicencio, Nelson Vivas Mora, said it is important to protect the rights and interests of the Cumaral residents.
Last Friday, January 18, 2013 MinMinas Federico Renjifo toured Meta speaking with local inhabitants, mayors and visiting Ecopetrol projects. We thought it interesting very relevant for its comments on environmental and community management. From a MinMinas press release, translated and with commentary by Hydrocarbons Colombia.
The USO is back from vacation as well and so things heated up. Perhaps the biggest news is of labor strife at the country’s largest coal mine Cerrejon, news which also made the national media. It is news (and relevant for us to report although not strictly about oil and gas) because Cerrejon has always been an exemplary company with a strong Corporate Social Responsibility program and so having labor strife is a surprise.
In an earlier article, we presented MinAmbiente’s plan to reform the regional water management authorities known as CARs. This MinAmbiente press release says the timetable for congressional approval will depend on the prior consultation period. It is remarkable to see the Ministry thought a separate press release was necessary even though the need for prior consultation was mentioned in the original press release. We think it relevant because MinAmbiente and the Interior Ministry are planning new prior consultation legislation in the next congressional session (which runs from March to July). These activities and press releases are part of a socialization process to get the legislation through Congress more easily. Translated and with commentary by Hydrocarbons Colombia.
The Colombian Association of Natural Gas (Naturgas) is making a significant contribution to the government’s housing program. The plan is to build 100,000 low-income houses as part of broader program to increase home ownership. The companies will contribute just under US$12M, mostly through discounted infrastructure but also through a program to give away gas stoves. From a Naturgas press release, translated, extracted and with commentary by Hydrocarbons Colombia.
President Santos announced that pending royalties resources will be disbursed in February. The OCAD last year approved CoP$2.1T (US$1.4B) for projects and, according to Santos, “These resources will continue disbursement. Next month all those resources will be disbursed “(as quoted in national business newspaper La Republica).
The Colombian Petroleum Workers Union (known as USO) apparently also takes an extended vacation period over the year-end holidays since news was light over past three weeks. The biggest news was an agreement with SAExploration Company in Puerto Gaitan, Meta to settle a work stoppage. The company took back terminated workers and provided bonuses.
As a result of heavy rains, part of a pipeline near the village of Dosquebradas, collapsed, broke open causing a fire that killed several people and injured more. On about the one-year anniversary, Ecopetrol has issued a press release. Translated and with commentary by Hydrocarbons Colombia.
As reported by newspaper El Nuevo Siglo, there are now about 50,302 oil service workers in Colombia. Of these, 18,401 (36%) are unqualified staff, 18,431 (37%) have a technical degree and 13,470 (27%) are professionals. 15.636 (31%) are permanent employees and 34.667 (69%) have a temporary contract.
Newspaper El Neuvo Siglo reports on the growth of bio-fuels from a forum called “Past, present and future of bio-fuels policy in Colombia”. It says that demand has doubled in just the past two years. The current mix is 8% bio-fuel to 92% conventional gasoline and the industry wants that to increase to 10%. Bio-diesel is another opportunity especially in large scale mining operations.
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