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.
Services firm Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) had selected a plot of land to build a waste treatment center, but recent zoning changes could put it at risk, despite having received a warm welcome from municipal authorities.
The Ministry of Mines and Energy (MinMinas) has received a US$30M loan to improve its management of the sector, royalty control and the information available on the country’s subsoil, while the Finance Ministry received another loan to improve the Controller’s role in Colombia.
After having cut CoP$2.8T from operating costs in 2015, Ecopetrol (NYSE:EC) announces further cuts for 2016 which are expected to save CoP$1.6T (US$0.5B).
The royalty budget planned for 2015-16 will not be manageable with oil at its current level, and needs to be cut by at least 30.8%, warns the General Controller. Meanwhile press reports on which regional entity is the worst in terms of royalty management abound. These and other stories in our periodic roundup.
While the decrees and studies on how to lower the costs of natural gas in the Caribbean region continue, other regions are now clamoring for a discount in their gas prices as well.
The high prices of sugar and the devaluation of the peso against the dollar have led ethanol producers to losses, said the biofuels industry association Fedebiocombustibles.