Rubén Darío Lizarralde, president of the Colombian Chamber of Oil Goods and Services (Campetrol) warned that the Constitutional Court’s recent decisions amount to “a direct attack against the sector and against foreign investment and the productivity of the country”.
The Finance Minister Mauricio Cárdenas said that the government does not expect to receive any income from oil industry profits in 2016, and instead will likely face CoP$800B (US$265.4M) in returned taxes for oil companies.
Senate President Luis Fernando Velasco accused the government of charging illegal taxes in its fuel price formula even after they were struck down by a Constitutional Court ruling and alleged citizens are essentially subsidizing Ecopetrol (NYSE:EC).
An urgent agreement is needed to reactivate the oil industry. Colombia might have potential for oil, but it is not an oil country. This must be taken into account when forming competitive strategies to attract investment, said Juan Carlos Rodríguez Esparza, president of the Colombian Oil Engineers Association (ACIPET).
The National Agency of Environmental Licenses (ANLA) will be headed up by one of its current functionaries, Claudia Victoria González, after a previous candidate named by the Minister of Environment Luis Gilberto Murillo was ruled out, leading to public tensions.
The scandal surrounding the Cartagena Refinery (Reficar) might have fallen to a secondary status, but continues to make headlines. A Senate hearing last month, accusations of environmental damage and a full audit by the General Controller’s office have all taken shape over recent weeks.
When the World Economic Forum opens its Latin American conference in Medellín this week, the Finance Minister Mauricio Cárdenas will unveil “the new economy” of Colombia, which is no longer dependent on oil prices or minerals, but instead on large agroindustry projects and tourism.
The restructuring process of Pacific E&P will take place in the Canadian legal system after both US and Colombian authorities announced they would support this process, although Colombian regulators have ordered the firm to guarantee payments for its Colombian creditors.
The Ministry of Mines and Energy (MinMinas) has announced that Carlos Andrés Cante will replace María Isabel Ulloa, as the Vice Minister of Mines, and will continue her work in consolidating a unified national mining policy.
The Centro Democratico party of Senator Alvaro Uribe kicked off a “firmaton”, a campaign to collect signatures and a call for civil resistance, just as the peace talks and the legal instrument which will be used to approve a final agreement reaches a critical moment.
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