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Through the Colombian Petroleum Association (ACP), companies are calling on the government’s customs and taxes agency DIAN to fulfill tax returns on fiscal income prepaid to the authorities which was based on oil prices of US$80-90/barrel.

A mixed system for block auctions which includes a greater frequency of two a year and more flexibility in their rules is being drawn up the National Hydrocarbons Agency (ANH). Its board of directors is reviewing the plan.

The Colombian State Council found that the firm Gran Tierra Energy Colombia (TSX: GTE) has failed to meet the terms of a contract with Ecopetrol (NYSE:EC) and therefore owes the state oil firm CoP$6.2B (US$2M).

The Minister of Mines and Energy Tomás González led a string of visits and inaugurations which highlighted royalty funded projects in a “Royalty Marathon”, while President Juan Manuel Santos addressed the press and said that royalties are no longer a synonym for corruption.

The director of the Energy and Gas Regulation Commission (CREG) Jorge Pinto Nolla defended the regulatory structure around the natural gas industry in an interview, and said that consumers will not suffer price hikes in their energy bill, nor will the industry be left without the essential fuel.

The Minister of Mines and Energy Tomas González and business representatives grouped under the National Business Owners Association (ANDI) in the Caribbean coast have agreed to review the formula and increase in natural gas rates that had been planned for November 30, 2015. It is not the first time that MinMinas has balked on price adjustments due to political outcry.

In an effort to bridge the gap between communities in oil producing regions, the industry and the national government, the National Hydrocarbons Agency (ANH) held a special event called the Knowledge Fair for the Hydrocarbons Territorial Strategy (ETH).

The former Vice-Minister and of Energy and former president of the National Hydrocarbons Agency (ANH) Orlando Cabrales has spent less time in public eye since leaving his post last year, but recently penned a critical article on the factors that have led Colombia to a shortage of natural gas.

The president of the Colombian Chamber of Oil Goods and Services (Campetrol) Rubén Darío Lizarralde warned attendees at an event in Barrancabermeja that Colombia’s proven reserves are enough to last for only six more years, and the current government strategy will not do much to change that. Ecopetrol (NYSE:EC) then responded.

Ecopetrol (NYSE:EC) president Juan Carlos Echeverry has in the past defended what others consider high taxes on oil companies, but in a recent report a national radio chain says he sees the nearly 70% state take as being a barrier to foreign investment, affecting in particular exploration wells.