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Average daily production of oil in July 2013 in Colombia reached a new record of 1,020,000 barrels per day, a 14.8% increase over the same period last year, and comes despite a number of strikes, blockades and protests in oil production regions.

Venezuela’s need for gas may prompt its NOC PDVSA to attempt to extend the contract it has with Ecopetrol past its current expiration date of 2014. How Colombia’s supply or problems in payments for the gas could change as a consequence still remains a question.

GasAs the El Niño weather pattern cuts into overall rainfall, depleted supplies at hydroelectric dams mean thermal-electrical production has compensated to stabilize Colombia’s electrical supply, pushing demand for natural gas up by 45% in July, compared to the previous year.

GasThe Colombian Association of Natural Gas said that an unexpected “technical event” in the Cusiana treatment plant has affected the treatment, processing and delivery of natural gas to industrial customers in the interior of the country.

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.

GasWith an eye on formalizing a disperse sector that has consolidated over the last three years, 12 propane distributors representing 70% of the market have agreed to form a new industry association to represent their interests.

In the absence of an agreement between mining firms Drummond and Cerrejón over methane gas and coal reserves in La Guajira, the government has said it will step in and impose a decision to break the ongoing deadlock over how to extract the resources which share the same block.

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.