A group of environmentalists have delivered a letter to authorities calling for a moratorium on fracking in Colombia until more studies can be performed on its impact on the environment.
While officials from the Ministry of Mines and Energy (MiMinas) have started making the rounds to defend the regulatory framework and requirements for companies to use fracking techniques, the Minister of Housing Luis Felipe Henao has said he is concerned about the practice due to its potential impact on water sources.
After nearly two months of protests in Putumayo the government has agreed to form a permanent dialogue with the department in the Puerto Asís in order to find a solution to end the ongoing dispute where oil infrastructure and security is a principal issue.
The new Minister of Environment and Sustainable Development (MinAmbiente) Gabriel Vallejo has made his first public addresses to the congress and the national park service, giving the first glimpse into the authority’s priorities under his watch. Bottlenecks in environmental licensing were not mentioned.
Each day that passes anti-fracking fears spread to new areas, now with a local paper telling its Caquetá readership that the government has authorized the practice and the department will not be an exception, even though no plans exist for fracking in the department.
A rigorous regulatory framework proceeded the approval of fracking techniques says the Minister of Mines and Energy Tomás González (MinMinas) who looks to counter critics which have filled the media over the last two weeks.
Casanare congressional representative Jorge Abril Tarache addressed a congressional session and rejected the use of fracking techniques in Casanare, which he says has suffered the environmental impact of the oil industry, as well as the loss of royalties, damage by tanker trucks and more.
Hardly a term used in anti-oil circles two weeks ago, a campaign against fracking has made its way to Meta from Huila as it receives attention from Colombia’s green party as well.
For the next Colombia Round, the Colombian Society of Geology says the National Hydrocarbons Agency (ANH) should auction blocks with pre-approved environmental licenses, in order to lessen the potential impact of a process that has become one of the greater obstacles towards exploration and production in the country.
Vice Minister of Energy Orlando Cabrales took the government’s opinion on fracking to the press in a column, defending the practice as necessary to maintain production and in turn development.
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