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The Senate’s Sixth Commission held a debate on the legal framework for oil companies regarding roads, and said that the current laws for rural backroads are not doing enough to serve the community in producing regions.

A Cienega municipality administrator says Comptroller findings reflect administrative errors not funds misuse, meanwhile The Ministry of Mines and Energy (MinMinas) is allocating CoP$9B (US$3M) to incentivize production. These and other stories in our periodic roundup.

The Ministry of Mines and Energy (MinMinas) and the Energy & Gas Regulation Commission (CREG) said they will regulate long term contracts signed in 2013 and 2014 so that they cannot rise faster than inflation.

The new president of the Colombian Association of Oil Engineers (ACIPET) Juan Carlos Rodríguez has taken up his role and says that the industry cannot use oil prices as an excuse for a crisis, and complemented authorities on the measures taken thus far, but sees a need for more fiscal relief.

The Ministry of Mines and Energy (MinMinas) says gasoline prices will fall in October based on a drop in its international price, although the exchange rate and biofuel prices meant diesel increased slightly, and also countered the decrease of gasoline.

The fall in oil prices has taken the magic out of public auctions of E&P blocks, and their effectiveness has fallen in different producing countries. Mexico recently finished the second phase of their Round One with some improvements, but not the stellar results authorities hoped for.

Over the last week President Juan Manuel Santos has faced calls from both critics and government institutions to release the full details of the initial peace agreement announced on September 23, while the government insists that the guerrilla will face sanctions as part of the transitional justice.

Two senators have taken up the cause advanced by former Senate president, Senator Jose Name, which led to the Ministry of Mines and Energy (MinMinas) and the Energy & Gas Regulation Commission (CREG) to freeze natural gas prices, citing the interests of the final consumer along the Caribbean coast.

The Colombian Association of Oil Engineers (ACIPET) has designated Carlos Rodríguez as its new executive director, replacing Carlos Alberto Leal who held the position for the last five months during the search for a permanent replacement.

We attended yesterday’s session to present the long-anticipated McKinsey study on Colombia’s competitiveness and the MinMinas/ANH initiatives to address the issues that study uncovered. Readers can find a separate article on the MinMinas press-release. Here is our extended ‘Bottom-Line’.