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Ecoperol cannot live of off “excessive prices” on fuel at the expense of Colombians, says the outspoken Meta Senator Maritza Martínez.

The Minister of Mines and Energy (MinMinas) Tomás Gonzalez addressed a seminar and said that through the government’s National Development Plan it will introduce modifications to contract conditions signed with the National Hydrocarbons Association (ANH) and make royalties more flexibile, two of the measures the industry has asked for.

Political pressure to nix a regulatory change to let the market set prices for the natural gas market has prompted the government to promise that rates on the Caribbean coast will only go up by a maximum of 4%, compared to the 25% rate increase planned under the new system.

The think-tank of the Ministry of Mines and Energy (MinMinas), the Mining Energy Planning Unit (UPME), has a new director. Jorge Valencia comes from the electrical energy sector and took the role early this week.

In an apparent effort to avoid a truckers strike and ward off critics of its fuel pricing policy, the central government made a surprise announcement to cut both diesel and gasoline prices by CoP$300 (US$0.12), bringing gasoline to its lowest level in almost five years.

Despite the fall in oil prices companies must not simply “discard workers” and cut “the more fragile half” of the business to reduce costs says the Labor Minister Luis (Lucho) Eduardo Garzón.

The ink is barely dry on the most recent tax reform, and already analysts are suggesting the government will have to take further measures to address the budget deficit in 2016 due to the drop in oil prices.

Royalty spending could be cut by 30-40% due to the fall in prices, while the government insists they have a plan. Meanwhile the impact of the price fall is being felt in producing regions as warnings and speculation grows on job losses. These and other stories in this week’s summary of the impact of the fall in the price of oil.

The governors of Meta, Norte de Santander and Putumayo have signed an agreement called the “Regional Alliance of Hydrocarbons” to promote the social and economic development of these producing regions.

“Let’s do the time warp again!” One of the protagonists has changed and at last the government has weighed in but it still feels like 2013 all over again with Naturgas saying there is plenty of gas and an industry association, now the ACP, saying there is not.