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With the aim of boosting the national economy, the government will speed up the implementation of un-used royalties during the second half of this year, and will seek to approve hundreds of projects in all regions. These and other stories in our periodic Royalties summary.

Anti-oil and mining referendums continue in different regions of the country and it is affecting mining and oil projects. Arbeláez and Pijao carried out these legal mechanisms to allow or reject the development of the mining and oil industry in their territories. As expected, the results were negative for the sectors.

Julio Cesar Vera, president of the Colombian Association of Petroleum Engineers (Acipet) spoke about the subject.

The Board of Administration and Decision (OCAD) approved projects in Casanare, Sucre and the Caribbean. President Santos, the Ministry of Mines and Energy (MinMinas) and the Monitoring and Evaluation System Entity (SMSCE) highlighted the importance of the projects in oil producing regions. These and other Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) stories in our periodic summary.

The interest in popular referendums against mining and oil activities continues to grow around Colombia. Yopal is in process to start a new popular consultation.

During the Hydrocarbons Forum that took place in Yopal (Casanare,) former President Álvaro Uribe and his five pre-candidates for the presidency made recommendations to achieve a more sustainable and progressive oil activity in Colombia.

The country has huge expectations for the offshore industry and authorities aim to bootstrap this sector. The Ministry of Commerce talked about this issue and gave her perspectives.

Following the publication of Agreement 2 of 2017, the industry highlighted the progress, but also warned about consequences that the new regulation brings.

The National Department of Planning (DNP) wants to boost projects through mining and oil royalties around Colombia. Luis Fernando Mejía, Director of DNP, talked about this strategy.

The Colombian oil sector is experiencing very difficult times at present. The industry is analyzing options to boost growth, and fracking is one of the main alternatives. Julio Cesar Vera, President of ACIPET, talked about this topic.