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The mayors of Ortega, Purificación and Melgar in Tolima joined to vent their shared concerns on royalty distribution and expedited environmental licenses issued by the National Environmental Licensing Agency (ANLA).

Following up on actions in 2014, the Ministry of Mines and Energy (MinMinas) has extended a series of workshops to facilitate better relations between regional authorities, companies and communities, choosing Arauca as the first host for the meetings this year.

GeoPark trains high altitude workers on safety procedures, meanwhile Gran Tierra Energy (TSX:GTE) implements a preventative health and safety campaign. These and other stories on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) in our periodic summary.

A local paper published a document from Caquetá professionals in the field of social research who see the region’s unique environmental riches and the impact on the social conflict as the main reasons why the region is not suited for oil production.

Plans to sell smaller and mature fields has received the attention and the rejection of the USO.

A recent roundtable of the Oil & Gas Cluster that the Casanare Chamber of Commerce ended with the president of the Colombian Chamber of Oil Goods & Services (Campetrol) Rubén Darío Lizarralde concluding it is time to stop the ‘mafias’ that have taken hold of oil company and community relations.

Ecopetrol (NYSE:EC) hosted a workshop on journalistic ethics, will support a major vehicular bridge in Meta and lent a hand in a spill cleanup. These and other stories on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) in our periodic summary.

In ten years Meta’s Puerto Gaitán, located next to the Rubiales field, went from the department’s poorest community to oil boom town, and with the price drop the bubble has apparently burst once again for the local economy.

As the Cartagena Refinery (Reficar) advances, the USO has taken aim at labor conditions and says it has formed a delegation which along with the Labor Ministry will visit the refinery to confirm its accusations.

A decision to freeze royalty funds after the fall in oil prices has the Finance Ministry at odds with departmental leaders, who want the funds to move forward with regional projects.