News and AnalysIs for

Transparency International, the NGO that investigates corruption at the national and international level, has published its biannual survey of countries. Given some investor interest in other Latin American countries, we thought the above graph might be illuminating.

This month has an emphasis on investment with an update to our Colombian stock index and a conversation with a fund manager about the country’s attractiveness. Frequent collaborator León Teicher worries whether government complacency might drive investors away.

It’s no secret that labor relations within Colombia’s hydrocarbon’s industry are tense at best, if not completely contentious. Some companies have better relations and some worse but all are experiencing challenges at the present time.

We classify our security counts into the ANH’s geographic basins but separate out incidents near roads and pipelines, independent of the geographic location of the event.

We talked to an investment fund manager who has been around the Colombian and Latin American petroleum industry for a long time. He helped fund the early years of many producers in the region and at one time was heavily invested in engineering and services firms.

Maya and Castilla

Mexico’s Maya was adjusted according to the recent WTI-Brent changes in the differential (as part of the price re-connection process due to the reversal and expansion of some key pipelines), which also has a direct effect in WTS, one of the main components of the Mexican heavy grade price formula.

We have not one but three interviews this month.

We calculate that Petroamerica is the 8^th largest company by market capitalization listed on the TSX or TSX-V exchanges with operations in Colombia and the largest non-operating company of the Canadian group.

Castilla Crude Refining Economics

In the last two months heavy grades have remained strong in the Gulf of Mexico market. Margins have been positive, at least in the higher end Gulf of Mexico conversion refineries.

Recently Colombia’s energy regulator, the CREG, issued an order to UPME — the Ministry of Mines and Energy’s think tank and research division — to look into the importation of Liquid Natural Gas, LNG.