Drawing parallels to the Cartagena Refinery, the USO has turned its attention to the delays and problems that have plagued the construction of an ethanol plant by Ecopetrol (NYSE:EC) subsidiary Bioenergy.
Fuel prices fell again in March, but the authorities still cannot shake the questions from consumers and press as to why they have not fallen further if oil prices are down substantially.
The Vice Minister of Mines María Isabel Ulloa attended the seveth annual meeting of the Transparency of Extractive Industries Initiative (EITI), and presented Colombia’s first report on the matter of transparency. She will also sit on the EITI board of the directors.
The General Controller Edgardo Maya Villazón released a report on the handling of royalty funds which included 134 “findings” which the entity considers a misuse of the funds, while a financial institutions industry association warned that the royalty system has not helped reduce the infrastructure gap. These and other royalty-related stories in our periodic roundup.
A 2015 perceptions survey carried out by the Chamber of Oil Goods and Services (Campetrol) showed that almost no service companies could call 2015 a good year, and the association called for immediate action from the government to restart Ecopetrol’s (NYSE:EC) exploration program.
Pacific E&P (TSX:PRE) was the affected operator in another Constitutional Court decision regarding the prior consultation process and an indigenous group in Puerto Gaitán, Meta, which affects the operator’s operations in Quifa.
The Central Bank released Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) figures for January 2016, and the fall was nearly 60% compared to the same period last year, affected by more than just energy and mining.
The National Hydrocarbons Agency (ANH) stepped up its position and said that it will sanction Santa María Petroleum, one of several firms accused of delivering false letters of credit to cover contract guarantees for an E&P contract.
The controversy surrounding the Cartagena Refinery (Reficar) has caused a moment of rare consensus across the political spectrum in Colombia’s congress: From the opposition bank of Senator Alvaro Uribe to the left leaning Polo Democratico and those between, all want to see a special session to grill those involved in the project.
The president of the Colombian Petroleum Association Francisco José Lloreda made an urgent call for the government to implement five short term and five structural measures to benefit the oil industry, which he says is a critical source of finances for the public budget.
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