News and AnalysIs for

In a matter of a few days, a blizzard of controversy over an environmental license to proceed with an E&P project near a natural reserve in La Macarena, Meta forced explanations from authorities and an eventual suspension announced by President Juan Manuel Santos.

Although there has been a slight recovery of oil prices to the high US$30 range, analysts believe that Colombian operators need prices at US$45 or higher to reactivate stalled exploration activity.

The president of the Chamber of Oil Goods and Services (Campetrol) Rubén Darío Lizarralde again called on the government for a better response to the industry’s current situation and asked for additonal measures to bolster exploration activity.

The Chamber of Oil Goods and Services (Campetrol) said that benefits offered by authorities to encourage exploration activity and make contracts more flexible are not having their desired effect, and more should be done to ensure exploration is restarted.

A recent report from the Chamber of Oil Goods and Services (Campetrol) calls attention to the fact only one of every four drills in Colombia were in use in Colombia, and urged the government to do more to stimulate exploration.

Another depressing figure has been released by the National Hydrocarbons Agency: in 2015 operators only made 17 registered discoveries, a 39% fall compared to the 28 announcements in 2014.

The Chamber of Energy Goods and Services (Campetrol) published an analysis in which it found that calculations of Colombia’s reserve life are much lower due to the fall in oil prices, and do not even extend for five years.

The Colombian Chamber of Oil Goods and Services (Campetrol) published an analysis of how Ecopetrol’s (NYSE:EC) exploration budget has shifted to market conditions over the last several years, and urged the NOC to step up exploratory efforts and spending.

Figures from the National Hydrocarbons Agency (ANH) confirm what many have said since the middle of last year: 2015 was a dreary year for exploration. But as if the drop in numbers was not enough, the success rate of these wells fell even further.

We have not published our ‘Fracker Tracker’ since early December when news of ExxonMobil’s (NYSE:XOM) application for permission to frack and the signing of an unconventional contract with ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) and Canacol (TSX:CNE) had pushed positive press reports to heights not seen for some time. However, this positive press has melted away as the graph shows.