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A local executive from Venezuela’s NOC PDVSA  has said the firm will not extend a bilateral contract to procure Colombian gas, freeing up production for internal use, and forming another element beyond a market liberalization that should push gas prices down.

Ecopetrol (NYSE:EC) had made offers to buy two shipments of gasoline and two of nafta for dilution, which should arrive in November.

Following a high level cabinet meeting with Ecopetrol lawyers, the government says that the recent Constitutional Court ruling only affects how it finances the Price Stabilization Fund, not the ability of the executive branch to fix fuel prices at the pump.

The ramifications of the Constitutional Court’s ruling that congress, not the executive branch, is responsible for the fixing of fuel prices or subsidies will render two big losers: Colombian consumers and the NOC Ecopetrol (NYSE:EC).

Following a decision early this month from the Constitutional Court that the executive branch could no longer set fuel prices, the court has also rejected a request to suspend the ramifications of the ruling for a year.

Colombia’s Regulatory Commission of Energy and Gas (CREG) has opened the possibility of exporting gas and building a US$400M liquefaction plant on the Caribbean cost, says Promigas president Antonio Celia.

Colombians might be paying at the pump, but Colombia’s Mines and Energy Minister Amylkar Acosta says the country cannot afford to put Ecopetrol’s (NYSE:EC) financial stability at risk, and that as long as crude prices remain high, gas will follow.

Colombia scored high marks for the competitiveness of its energy sector according to two international studies which also took into account access to energy and how compatible energy policies are with environmental challenges.

Once a proposal surrounding the environmental management plan of the Barrancabermeja refinery is approved by the National Environmental Licensing Agency (ANLA) is passed, Ecopetrol’s (NYSE: EC) board of directors can approve the next step of the project.

UPDATED — Colombia’s Supreme Court has ruled the current pricing scheme in which the presidential administration smooths prices is unconstitutional. Instead any mechanism should fall to congress. Meanwhile the Liberal Party pushes the new mines and energy minister to study a decrease in fuel prices.