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At an event hosted by consulting firm Willis Towers Watson, attorney Carlos Mantilla McCormick, expert on the Colombian energy sector, presented his vision on the Agreement 2.

Colombia’s Central Bank (Banrep) released 1H17 Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) figures for the country. This increased in the oil and mining sector compared to the same period last year, but total Colombia FDI decreased.

The National Hydrocarbons Agency (ANH) announced the date for a new Round, after postponing it a couple of weeks ago for bureaucratic reasons. There has not been a bid round since 2014.

The Colombian Association of Petroleum Engineers (Acipet) hosted a meeting where Martin Kaindl, Director of Institutional Relations of the Argentinean Institute of Oil and Gas (IAPG,) spoke about Argentina’s experience with non-conventional resources. HCC attended the event.

German Arce, MinMinas, talked about the sector situation and the boom of popular referendums in an interview with Semana.

For the first time, representatives of the Oil Workers Union (USO,) the Colombian Association of Petroleum Engineers (Acipet), the Technical Institute of Petroleum and Ecopetrol (NYSE: EC) met in the “Unconventional resources: challenges for Colombia” forum, that took place in Barrancabermeja.

Carlos Mantilla Mc Cormick, former President of the National Hydrocarbons Agency (ANH) spoke about the lack of seismic information and its consequences in the next round.

The intention to carry out anti-oil and mining referendums continues to grow around Colombia. The industry has many concerns, and these grow with a move to carry out referendums to approve or deny offshore exploration.

The Ministry of Mines and Energy had announced a reduction in fuel prices for July, but a few days later changed this decision and increased them. The Colombian Federation of Cargo and Logistics Transporters (Colfecar) referred to this switch and gave recommendations.

The 23 municipalities that have popular consultation processes against oil activities might jeopardize the production of around 120mbd, and the future of at least 14 exploration projects.