With a growing fleet of natural gas vehicles (NGVs) and expanding domestic use of the fuel, an update of prices for 2016 by the Energy & Gas Regulation Commission (CREG) will affect far more than the traditional industrial consumers.
With the Finance Minister Mauricio Cárdenas in the crowd, Senator Iván Duque, of Senator Alvaro Uribe’s Centro Democratico party, leveled a blunt criticism at the government’s handling of the energy and mining sector and the spending plan going forward.
Eduardo Pizano, the president of Colombia’s Natural Gas Association, Naturgas, urged the government to speed up the process to issue environmental licenses for the production of Coal Bed Methane (CBM), which he said could provide an alternative source to increase the country’s gas reserves.
A national paper highlighted three examples in Colombia’s Caribbean coast of how hydrocarbons firms are both complying with environmental standards and engaging the community to create successful and positive social and ecological impacts.
A proposed change from the Energy & Gas Regulation Commission (CREG) that looks to facilitate the entry of new energy generators using more hydro, wind or solar power and lower “guarantee charges” has received some praise, while thermal generators say it could impact energy stability.
With Colombia’s current tax scheme on companies, it would be nearly impossible to recover lost investment due to the fall in oil prices, unless prices return to a level of around US$80/barrel, said Sebastián Borgarello, VP of Wood Mackenzie’s energy consulting business.
The Comptroller General fears up to CoP$112B (US$35.6M) in project funding has been diverted by municipalities in the first half of 2015. 37 of these cases occurred in the Cesar department.
The Colombian Association of Oil Engineers (ACIPET) held the XVI version of its Oil & Gas Congress last week, leading to a flurry of comments about the current state of the oil industry and its professionals from authorities and observers.
The fall in oil prices has caused a rethinking of budgets and projects, cutting into the potential for unconventional resources but not stopping any programs completely.
Equion supports sustainable poultry production in Casanare, while community members in Trinidad criticize Pacific Exploration & Production (TSX:PRE) for its alleged lack of support in road improvements. These and other stories on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) in our periodic summary.
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