The Colombian Association of Oil Engineers (ACIPET) believes that the main focus of the industry and authorities this year should be to add 1B barrels of new crude reserves in order to position the sector for an eventual recovery of oil prices six or seven years down the road.
The USO kicked off the new year by denouncing the policies of President Juan Manuel Santos and warned again that there are plans to hand over Ecopetrol’s (NYSE:EC) assets to private multinationals. A broad-scale national strike should be planned immediately, the union said.
The National Hydrocarbons Agency (ANH) and MinMinas have been talking about a new procedure to assign areas for exploration and production since September. Finally in the very last week of the year, when government is normally shut down, the text has been published for comments. The comment period ends January 31st.
For the first time, The National Planning Department (DNP) held an awards session to recognize the best use of royalty funds in an initiative called “Well Invested Royalties”, with top honors going to a governor and three mayors. This and other royalty related stories in our periodic summary.
The Colombian Petroleum Association released the results of a study on investment trends and found that the tax reform of 2014 has led to a poor investment climate which has resulted in a 28% fall in CAPEX in 2015 when compared to the year prior, with exploration taking the biggest hit.
After much fanfare the Minister of Mines and Energy Tomás González announced that authorities had reached an agreement with lawmakers and industry delegates from the Caribbean coast that would mean no new price increases for natural gas, to the dismay of gas producers. But now it emerges that the magic formula is in fact, optional.
Shortfalls in the supply of natural gas and drought due to El Niño weather could mean that thermal electrical generators will have to increase their use of diesel to generate energy, says a report.
A group of eight NGOs present in the Paris Climate Change Summit have called on Latin American countries to prohibit fracking due to its alleged environmental impact and potential role in speeding global warming.
In his annual account rendering the General Controller (CGR) Edgardo Maya Villazón said that cost over-runs associated with the modernization of the Cartagena Refinery (Reficar) are one of his main concerns, and that the entity will soon release a report on its findings so far.
The latest controversy to hit the use of royalty funds: One of three contracts signed between 2012-2015 directly hired a contractor instead of using competitive processes.