News and AnalysIs for

Last week’s top story from a readership perspective was the list of companies that qualified for the government’s upcoming auction (PPAA). No doubt readers were looking for any surprises: new players or non-participants.

Last week’s article on long-term oil prices did not get a lot of readership. Maybe it was too heavy on the data analysis and too light on policy recommendations. This article focuses on policy.

Spot prices were up last week but President Trump’s physician has more influence over that than demand or supply fundamentals. Our long-term indicators are not going in the right direction.

Last week, leaders from the oil and gas industry came together (virtually) to launch Mujeres Oil and Gas, an initiative to bring greater gender equity to the sector. We attended and brought back this report.

We normally do not write about global issues – we assume that you have your own sources for this information. But BP recently published its Energy Outlook after a long, Covid-19-induced delay, and, if an accurate reflection of the future, there are profound implications for the industry and for Colombia.

Carlos Leal, President of the Colombian Association of Petroleum Engineers (Acipet), spoke about the most recent propaganda by industry detractors: the ‘Fracking Challenge.’

It has been nearly three months since our last article tracking key pandemic statistics so we thought these graphs might be useful. Things have been getting better but questions remain.

Two weeks ago I wrote, “The past six months have provided ample evidence of the dangers of applying ‘political intuition’ to issues that require scientific evidence and scientific reasoning.” This week provided ample evidence that this point has not, in fact, been understood.

While doing the rounds of editorial boards in honor of Ecopetrol’s 69^th birthday, CEO Felipe Bayón’s message was that the Colombian government should not sell any part of the NOC, especially Cenit. The company’s 2Q20 results show why: without the Transport sector, his company would be a far worse financial situation.

As the country creeps closer and closer to fracking trials, the opposition gets shriller concerned that economic interests will overcome environmental considerations. Concerned that the courts might make a pro-fracking decision, members of Congress from several parties across the center and left have filed a bill to prohibit the practice. That inspired the associations representing the oil and gas industry’s professionals to make a plea for science to carry its proper weight in these deliberations.