The government has “concrete solutions” underway to stimulate investment in oil exploration and production as a countermeasure to the curtailed spending due to the fall in oil prices.
The Colombian Petroleum Association (ACP) took up the issue of natural gas, warning that there will be a deficit on the order of 190mmcf as soon as 2018, and that changing the regulations due to political controversy will only deter investment in exploration.
In a presentation to the industry and other interested parties at the ANDI’s ‘Genera’ conference recently, the ANH showed a chart saying there was just over US$7B of investment pending from E&P and TEA contracts.
The Labor Minister Luis Eduardo (Lucho) Garzón admitted that the government did not have a plan to confront the crisis in the industry generated by the collapse of oil prices.
The fall in the price of oil has moved the government to sound the alarms and start inspecting oil companies and contractors to verify their liquidity and ability to pay workers, suppliers and meet other obligations
The president of the Colombian Senate Jose Name says that natural gas shipments to Venezuela should be cut off and the gas should instead be used to supply the Caribbean coast at a lower cost.
The Oil Council’s Latin American Assembly was held again in Bogotá this year. The conference brings investors, E&P and services companies and top legal firms to talk about investment drivers in the region. So called ‘Chatham House’ rules prevent us from publishing quotes with attribution but here is what we got from the two days.
The falling price of oil might be what hurled the oil industry into a crisis that looks to bring layoffs in the sector, but there are a number of issues that have been in the works for some time, along with the recent tax reform, that have also weakened the sector, according to the heads of two oil industry associations.
The devaluation of the Colombian peso against the dollar has helped lessen the impact of falling oil prices on company balance sheets as their costs in Colombia drop, but for the government it could have a multi prong effect that will leave its revenues short and increase its debt.
The National Planning Department (DNP) has warned that projects that look for royalty funding will have to be prioritized considering the drop of oil prices and the consequences on royalty payments received by the government. This and other royalty related stories in our periodic wrap.
2025, Hydrocarbons Colombia, All Rights Reserved.
