The Army reported positive results in operatives against oil smuggling in Cúcuta (Norte de Santander) and Tame (Arauca), among others. The development of these and other stories in our periodic Security summary.
Authorities were able to significantly reduce fuel theft, but are still struggling to eliminate fuel smuggling.
The high commissioner for peace, Miguel Ceballos, announced that the ELN has one month to show more will for peace or it will lose its title of ‘armed organization with political status’.
Authorities in oil producing municipalities were surprised to see that the new royalties’ budget excluded a big part of the resources that president Duque had announced for some regions. These and other stories in our periodic Royalties summary.
The General System of Royalties (SGR) has been one of the main discussion topics between the government, communities and oil sector. The last reform to the SGR generated significant conflict with the inhabitants of producing regions. Ivan Duque, President of Colombia, spoke on this issue.
Concerns about a possible shortage of energy in Colombia are rising due to the El Niño phenomenon. However, the energy marketplace, XM, conducted a study on the levels of energy generation with fossil fuels and the results provide peace of mind at the moment.
The president of the Colombian Petroleum Association (ACP), Francisco Lloreda, spoke about lessons learned from 2018 and forecasts for 2019.
It is early January and time for my annual look ahead. The working title for this piece is always “Fearless Forecasts” but this year I am rather fearful.
The boom of anti-oil referendums in producing regions keeps generating concerns in the industry. The municipalities are still trying to develop these mechanisms (despite the Constitutional Court’s ruling that they have no force) and the Yopal Council ruled on this issue.
Oil prices and the value of the dollar are two of the main variables that drive the Colombian public finances. Expectations for these metrics are not encouraging for this year, and this situation could affect the country’s public finances.
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