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Following up on a pilot program to subsidies the purchase of gas in cylinder the Ministry of Mines and Energy (MinMinas) says that the subsidies are ready to be claimed by for those who have qualified for the program in select municipalities.

Ecopetrol (NYSE:EC) highlighted the results of the recent bilateral negotiation, part of the government’s effort to redefine the commercial structure of natural gas in Colombia and lower prices for the final consumer.

Pacific Rubiales Energy (TSX:PRE) says it has reached a preliminary agreement to negotiate a five year sales and purchase agreement of 500,000 tons of liquefied natural gas (LNG) with Gazprom Marketing & Trading (GM&T).

GasThe first round of bilateral negotiations between natural gas producers and their clients and supply chain partners has come to a close, leaving the price at US$3.8 per million BTU, a US$2 drop from the existing price from the La Guajira field.

The Minister of Mines and Energy (MinMinas) Amylkar Acosta said that coal miners Drummond and Cerrejón must reach an agreement on the elongated dispute over overlapping Coal Bed Methane gas (CBM) and coal production rights in the Ranchería River Valley, and that they have a month to do so.

Colombia’s Energy & Gas Regulation Commission (CREG) has started the process to contract an administrator of the natural gas market, part of its long term wide reaching evolution of how the gas market is regulated.

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.

GasThe Colombian association of Natural Gas (Naturgas) is holding its second business roundtable in an effort to bring the sector up to date on the latest developments and promote new business and alliances.

In the last week three successive attacks week have shut down the Caño Limon-Coveñas painting a complicated picture for transport infrastructure in areas where the ELN and Farc operate, and have also stopped Colombian gas exports to Venezuela along a separate pipeline.

As part of a new strategy to increase consumption of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) the Ministry of Mines and Energy (MinMinas) has announced a subsidy pilot program in low income communities.