News and AnalysIs for

The first round of the Colombian elections have come to an end and the results was a win for the Uribist candidate Oscar Ivan Zuluaga over the incumbent President Juan Manuel Santos. (Uribism and Uribists are followers of ex-President Alvaro Uribe’s Democratic Center Party.)

The Minister of Mines and Energy Amylkar Acosta championed the role of the mining-energy sector in bringing foreign direct investment (FDI) to the country, even though there are signs that it has decreased, while President Juan Manuel Santos attributed the growth to his administration.

Members of the Civic Committee in Defense of the Las Ceibas Riverbasin will take their cause to the State Council in order to annul an E&P contract held by a subsidiary of Pacific Rubiales Energy (TSX:PRE), despite confirmations from the company and government that the E&P work will not go forward.

After a seven year dispute and hours before a government mandated deadline, miners Drummond and Carrejón have reached an agreement to proceed with the extraction of methane gas associated with a coal deposit in La Guajira.

The reform of the system to distribute royalties from oil and mining have been detrimental to producing regions, forcing them to deal with the environmental and infrastructure issues create by the industries but without the benefit of royalty income, said the Minister of Mines and Energy Amylkar Acosta.

The Colombia Canada Chamber of Commerce held its most important academic event recently and while the oil and gas sector was not supposed to be featured this year, there turned out to be much back and forth between industry and government representatives.

Following another round of talks in a process that have stretched for more than 2 years, involving departmental and national government intervention, 10 oil operators signed an agreement with a group of local transportation firms. The number pales in comparison to the 48 oil companies operating in the department, and the largest: Pacific Rubiales (TSX:PRE) and Ecopetrol (NYSE:EC) did not sign.

Colombia total production was down 4mbd sequentially. Now that some of the major players have reported, the winners and losers are becoming clearer.

The oil industry is interested in continuing to invest in Colombia, but three principal factors – licensing, attacks and blockades — are making an already complex process even more difficult and threatens the economic potential that the industry could generate, says the president of the Colombian Petroleum Association Alejandro Martinez.

Fuel prices dropped in May as the Ministry of Mines and Energy adjusts its formula to set them, while the issue continues to gain traction on different fronts.