The USO said that it is ready for Rubiales field to be reverted to Ecopetrol (NYSE:EC) and discarded any notions that Pacific E&P workers affiliated with rival union UTEM would keep their jobs.
The Regional Autonomous Corporations (CARS) defended their role in the awarding of environmental licenses and expressed concern that national authorities like the National Agency of Environmental Licenses (ANLA) have ignored their opinion and approved projects.
Casanare congressional representative Luis Hernando Otálora has reminded his constituents to have some restraint when making requests for the oil industry, focusing on local hiring for goods and services.
The USO said that its actions to oppose fracking through marches and to demand the government ban the process has made it the target of the national police and it has sounded an urgent alarm for greater protection.
The State Council ruled against Ecopetrol (NYSE:EC) and said that an administrative ruling that stemmed from a public referendum against oil activities in Tauramena was not its business, and rather it should be decided by a different court. Local press have labeled it as a win for the residents opposed to exploration and production activities.
The government is mulling changes in the organization of the entities which approve royalty projects, the OCADS, to encourage large scale, high-impact initiatives instead of small scale, local pet projects, and to address a trend of stagnated advances. This is “contrary to the philosophy” of the royalty reforms, officials say. This and other royalty related stories in our periodic round-up.
Authorities and the El Centro settlement have agreed to form six work groups to talk local hiring, and protestors have lifted blockades of La Cira Infantas in Santander.
The fall in oil prices has set off a chain reaction which started in the producing regions but has now made its way much further and is changing the economic and social reality of the country.
The USO has jumped into the controversy surrounding the environmental license of Hupecol in La Macarena, warning of the damage which could occur from granting licenses like these.
Repeated calls for action from national authorities from Barrancabermeja politicians and residents earned them a meeting with Ecopetrol (NYSE:EC) president Juan Carlos Echeverry. The NOC chief did not budge on decisions to not modernize the city’s refinery, but said it remains a strategic asset for the firm.
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