News and AnalysIs for

Although the country managed to finish above 1mmbd for the year, the second half was not as sparkling as was expected considering first half performance. Oil prices continue to slide and so shut-in fields are a possible explanation.

Every month the Ministry of Mines and Energy (MinMinas) publishes the prices of fuel and every month there is a chorus of criticism calling for lower prices.

Our readers do not need to be told that oil prices continued to slide in 4Q15 and the New Year has brought no relief. But it may not have registered that the gap between Brent and WTI has virtually disappeared.

The National Planning Department (DNP) has been heralding its MapaRegalias as an innovative tool for citizens to have the latest information on royalty projects and update status on royalty funds in general at their fingertips.

It is not quite at the same level of eloquence as the Queen’s annual broadcast to the Commonwealth but it might have achieved a similar level of platitudes-per-column inch if MinMinas González had not dropped a major ‘bomb’ on the issue of fuels for electrical generation.

Campetrol provided an update of its detailed drill rig information and so we updated our charts. Workover has stayed fairly stable since May at 34-35 rigs but Drilling dropped by 7 in October after rising in August.

This year had its fair share of all three (cue the Ennio Morricone theme in the background) although it is harder to find the good than it is to find the ugly. This is a personal wrap-up of the year about to end and a look ahead at what might happen in 2016.

Editor’s Note: ACIPET, the association of Colombian petroleum engineers, is an active voice for policy change in the sector. Its recently-appointed Executive Director, Juan Carlos Rodriguez, speaks frequently to the press on what the government is doing right and not doing right.

In our analysis of Ecopetrol’s 3Q15 results we reported that CEO Juan Carlos Echeverry had said the NOC was outperforming its global peers.

At this time of year, companies are in the closing stages of their 2016 planning. Considering the time frame of most oil and gas investments, one input is very long-term forecasts of overall demand, at least implicitly as companies try to look at long-term prices.