News and AnalysIs for

But the statistical odds are not good given recent history. President Juan Manuel Santos has changed MinMinas every year.

MinMinas Tomás González was in Houston this week at one of industry’s most important conferences, CERAWeek. This is a marketing opportunity certainly but also a look at the official point of view.

The General Comptroller has released comments on the royalties budget for 2015-2016, criticized the slow pace at which royalties projects are being executed and highlighted an unrealistic reference price per barrel of oil. These and other stories in our periodic roundup.

The oil industry has always been subject to price cycles, so the fall in prices should be nothing new. However instead it has caused panic among companies which has left Colombian workers and oil engineers exposed says the president of the Colombian Association of Oil Engineers (Acipet) Carlos Leal.

With social investment and corporate social responsibility budgets cut tight with the fall in oil prices, a document filed with the National Department of Planning (DNP) outlines which priorities the government considers the most urgent.

Estimates from the Casanare Chamber of Commerce show that the market for contractor firms has been halved due to the fall in oil prices, and could be greater when considering the indirect industries which have been affected.

The government is advancing with a plan to establish free trade zones for offshore exploration blocks, and also approved extensions to concession contracts awarded in the Colombia Round 2014.

The Colombian Association of Natural Gas (Naturgas) president Eduardo Pizano insists that the country’s gas supply is solid, and that the sector needs advances on certain regulatory fronts more than anything.

Colombia’s watchdog on corporate activity, Supersociedades, studied 53 companies from the oil and gas sector and concluded that 23 or about 40% were at a high risk of declaring bankruptcy.

The Bolsa Mercantil de Colombia (BMC) held its official launch to mark its role as the “Amazon” of the natural gas market. No mention was made of the political forces who have been successful in circumventing the open market when it comes to pricing.