The government must take drastic measures to encourage investment in E&P, which is half of what it needs to be to keep current production levels. Otherwise the country will soon lose its oil self-sufficiency and the economic benefits, supply chain benefits and tax contribution that entails.
Colombia’s Central Bank released Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) and related figures for 2015 and the 1Q2016, showing a drop in both investment received and the profits obtained locally due to these investments, although some other sectors show signs of recovery.
Senator Fernando Araújo pointed out the benefits that the modernized Cartagena Refinery (Reficar) has contributed and will bring to the local community, and called for specific investments to mitigate faulty infrastructure in the nearby communities.
The National Hydrocarbons Agency (ANH) said it will work more closely with local leaders in identifying and preventing community conflicts with the hydrocarbons industry, as the second phase of its Hydrocarbons Territorial Strategy (ETH).
The Chamber of Oil Goods and Services (Campetrol) said that the current complications, court decisions and low prices facing oil production will contribute to a 11.9% year-over-year for 2016’s average daily production, to render 885,000bd of crude output for the year.
Even one of Colombia’s main business publications has questioned statements from the Minister of Mines and Energy Germán Arce, who argued that the technique should be applied in Colombia. What can be expected from the popular press?
Colombia’s Superintendente de Sociedades (SuperSociedades) compiled a comparison of the income, profits and assets of the country’s largest 1000 companies, and the mining/hydrocarbons sector registered one of the biggest drops over the last year.
The Constitutional Court issued a ruling that eliminated a law which prohibited territorial authorities from prohibiting mining projects in their areas, but the Minister of Mines and Energy German Arce insists that it does not mean that extractive projects could be affected.
Led by the Barrancabermeja Mayor’s office and Senator Jorge Robledo, the municipality held a its second “Forum for the Defense of Water and Ecosystems” and charged that fracking is the new threat against Middle Magdalena’s water supply.
The USO has joined a group of unions, NGOs and Senators to create the National Committee for the Defense of Public Assets, and said that the first task would be to take legal action against the president of municipal utility ETB, Jorge Castellanos.
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