The director of the National Planning Department (DNP) Simón Gaviría warned that the number of at-risk “critical” royalty projects has grown from 144 at the end of 2015 to 208 on July 31, 2016, another sign that something is wrong with the General Royalty System (SGR).
The offshore industry has become the government’s great hope to add new reserves and keep Colombia’s hydrocarbons self-sufficiency going, but it is no short term bet and there is still structural work to do.
Colombia’s Senate held its first day of debates on 2017-18 General Royalty System (SGR) with the central government highlighting increases in the amount for development projects for regions, while the opposition pointed out the flaws in the overall system.
The Colombian Hydrocarbons Agency (ANH) said that thus far in Colombia the 22 contracts signed for offshore areas with operators have resulted in investments worth US$423M, and authorities hope to reach the US$1.35B investment tally for the sector in the midterm.
The Ministry of Mines and Energy (MinMinas) gave an update of the funds awarded as part of its “production incentive program” which awards municipalities for meeting production goals. In 2016 the ministry has awarded CoP$90.6B (US$27.4M) to projects. This and other royalty related stories in our periodic summary.
The government’s royalty budget for 2017-18 has caused concern from associations and control entities like the General Controller, as it relies on an income which observers warn is much more optimistic than what reality will deliver.
The Colombian association for the propane industry, Gasnova, has been working on formalizing the market, but warns that there are groups using regulations and gray areas to take advantage of the market, and that there is a growing mafia of informal distributors in major urban centers.
The Energy and Gas Regulation Commission (CREG) has named Germán Castro Ferreira as its new director, replacing Jorge Pinto who has held the role for the last two years.
The administration of the Minister of Mines and Energy Germán Arce has opted for a different approach to figuring monthly fuel prices to keep the changes to the minimum, and is now studying how to change the pricing formula to remain as stable as possible.
Time is ticking on the peace agreements. President Juan Manuel Santos has extended the bilateral cease fire to December 31st and is accepting commentary and suggestions, but the path to a political consensus to accept the agreements is not yet clear.
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