The scandal surrounding the Cartagena Refinery (Reficar) might have fallen to a secondary status, but continues to make headlines. A Senate hearing last month, accusations of environmental damage and a full audit by the General Controller’s office have all taken shape over recent weeks.
Canacol Energy (TSX:CNE) says that the firm has natural gas, it has clients that want to buy it, but it lacks the transport capacity to deliver it adequately, especially for new discoveries, and instead suffers from a “private monopoly”.
Senator Fernando Araújo pointed out the benefits that the modernized Cartagena Refinery (Reficar) has contributed and will bring to the local community, and called for specific investments to mitigate faulty infrastructure in the nearby communities.
While the political clamor to modernize the Barrancabermeja Refinery continues, the facilities reported a net profit of CoP$238B (US$77.7M) in the first quarter of 2016, which represents a 360% improvement over the same period in 2015.
The Delegate Controller for the Environment insists that the Cartagena Refinery (Reficar) only has an environmental license for “internal” transport of industrial coke which does not include shipping it in trucks to the port, and said it must request a new license.
Following on his order to study tax breaks for the oil industry, President Juan Manuel Santos has now called on sector entities to study a reduction in pipeline rates to boost the industry’s financial standing.
The Energy and Mining Planning Unit (UPME) has been moving forward with plans to tender the expansion of gas pipelines to improve the supply of the gas, and now details on the organization of the eventual network have emerged as well.
As one of his last actions at his post, the Attorney General Eduardo Montealegre has called on judges in Bogotá’s Paloquemao Judicial Complex to hold an audience to bring charges against the the ELN leaders for systematic attacks on oil infrastructure and the resulting environmental damage.
Traditionally, Colombians have thought of their natural gas as coming from La Guajira. Even when we started HCC in 2012, La Guajira represented 51% of gas production. But by 4Q15, that figure had dropped to 31%. Casanare is the new leader.
A group of politicians in Meta have demanded explanations on the status of a planned refinery in Meta and how CoP$17B (US$5.6M) have been spent on the refinery, which still has not started the construction phase.
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