After more than a month of protests, blockades and clashes the mayor of Puerto Asís has called on the Interior Minister Juan Fernando Cristo to attend to the indigenous communities concerns to end the deadlock.
Vice Minister of Energy Orland Cabrales says that the technical and environmental norms are in place and at least one contract has started to move forward with mapping work, while plans to start drilling are also in order for others. The main issue is now environmental licensing to see more activity.
From public safety campaigns to debates on who will foot the bill of heavy vehicular traffic, Casanare was home to a number of road related issues and reports, which we detail in our latest summary of road related articles.
The Ministry of Labor is looking to crack down on those presidents of community action committees (JACS) that charge community members in the areas of influence of oil facilities to have work with the industry.
The national government says that the National Hydrocarbons Agency (ANH) will open an office in Yopal, Casanare in 2015 to tighten community relations and ensure compliance from operators in nearby fields. Environmental concerns were cited as the motivation for the new strategy.
The government might still be holding onto expectations that daily oil production in Colombia from 2014-2024 will average 1.062mmbd, but the Colombian Petroleum Association (ACP) already has scaled down its expectations to a more conservative figure.
In one of his first interviews as the new Minister of Mines and Energy, Tomás González says that in order for communities to feel a “legitimate” benefit from oil activities near their homes, they must see the impact of royalties.
The Municipality of Yopal is promoting a change in tax laws that would allow it (and others) to levy a municipal industry and commerce tax on oil operator revenues. Currently they are exempt from the tax since they are already paying royalties based on their production.
A report issued last week by Colombia’s General Controller placing the responsibility for a drought earlier this year on the shoulders of the oil industry in Casanare has brought the issue back to the front pages, as critics call for greater restrictions on seismic exploration while oil authorities push back.
The Ministry of Mines and Energy (MinMinas) says no changes will be made to the reference fuel price, pointing out that over the last year fuel prices have grown by less than 1% in the case of gasoline and 1.8% for diesel.
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