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The Ministry of Environment (MinAmbiente) announced changes to the Manual of Environmental Compensation for large projects. This document is vital for the extractive sector, as it is the guide to compensation in environmental and ecological issues.

The General Maritime Directorate organized a workshop for those who will be inspecting offshore platforms. ANH President Orlando Velandia was invited to talk about the offshore oil and gas opportunity.

We looked at how the top oil producing departments voted and, if it had been just their decision, the second round would have been Duque-Fajardo not Duque-Petro.

German Arce, Minister of Mines and Energy (MinMinas), wrote an article about the goals and plans of the government in the oil sector in the newspaper El Espectador. He highlighted the relevance of the Caribbean region for the future of the sector.

There was some suspense but, in the end, no surprises: right-wing candidate Iván Duque will battle left-wing candidate Gustavo Petro in the second round of Colombia’s presidential elections on June 17^th.

The Colombian Association of Natural Gas (Naturgas) made an analysis on the situation of key metrics of the gas sector such as production, self-sufficiency and capacity. The association called for more collaboration from Colombian authorities to boost the development of the industry.

The fall in oil prices greatly affected the Colombian economy some years ago, proving that the country depends in large part on the sector. However, oil prices have been increasing in recent months and experts analyzed this situation.

Although this mechanism is new in Colombia, it already works in countries like Peru with positive results, and could change the course of the Colombian post-conflict process.

The boom in popular referenda against the oil and mining sector has generated many concerns and debate in the country. The Government’s strategy to stop this wave was to say that it lacked the resources to finance them, but this has generated a new controversy with communities.

The Works-for-Taxes program is one of the most interesting ideas by the Colombian Government that we have seen in a long time. It is long-established in Peru and companies that saw it work there have advocated for its adoption in Colombia.