News and AnalysIs for

The price of fuel has emerged from the ongoing national strike as a central theme for discord. One proposal is to rehash the formula used to figure fuel prices and reduce taxes. Greater user of pipelines to transport crude also arose as a option.

After a meeting between the members of the Finance, Mines and Energy and Transport ministries with the Colombian Truckers Association (ACC) the government has recognized the trucker’s national strike and found its demands to be valid.

Colombia’s economy growth is “unbalanced” and slowing, and the increased supply of shale gas oil could tamper the boom in the country’s energy production in 2-3 years says Sergio Clavijo, director of Colombia’s National Association of Financial Institutions.

After years of tracking very closely together, Brent separated from WTI in late 2010 and at one point in 2011, was nearly US$30. Last week the gap closed.

After a substantial run-up in production in the later months of 2012, oil production and for that matter, total production has been just about flat.

The Colombian government says one million new users have been connected to the natural gas network Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos took office in August 2010.

The Natural Gas Association (Naturgas) says that proposed changes that would institute a system of public auctions to set wholesale prices as proposed by Colombia’s Energy Regulatory Commission and Gas – CREG would lead to price increases and opposes the system.

Every quarter Ecopetrol helpfully publishes the distribution of its crude oil exports. Other producers would have different profiles but considering the NOC’s size both in terms of production and commercialization, this is a good indicator of the country as a whole.

Using methane gas derived from the treating of waste water from a palm oil refiner, the company CI Tequedama is able to create clean energy for its own use and sell the overage to the national energy network.

Following a national debate as to whether Colombia has sufficient gas resources for the long term future, the Energy and Gas Regulation Commission (CREG) has issued resolutions clearing the path for natural gas imports starting in 2016.