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Casanare’s local paper published a succinct editorial offering a word of caution for residents and a warning for politicians: The boon days of oil royalties are gone so you had better be careful how the money is spent.

The recently appointed director of the National Planning Department (DNP) Tatyana Orozco defended the General Royalty System against recent criticism, saying that they are responsible for “works materializing in all of the regions”.

The General Controller of Colombia is the latest authority to criticize the General Royalty System (SGR), saying to local press that the funds are not being dispersed as they should be and that it lacked a proper transition phase.

Jorge Bendeck, a longtime ally of the new Mining and Energy Minister Amylkar Acosta, is a small step away from taking the position as president of the National Hydrocarbons Agency (ANH), bringing his experience and focus on exploration and infrastructure with him.

Colombia’s National Hydrocarbon’s Association (ANH) will become the entity responsible for collecting royalties generated due to gas production starting January 1, 2014.

The ramifications of the Constitutional Court’s ruling that congress, not the executive branch, is responsible for the fixing of fuel prices or subsidies will render two big losers: Colombian consumers and the NOC Ecopetrol (NYSE:EC).

The central government is aware the general royalties system (SGR) is not working as best it could, a little more than a year after its implementation, and is open to making adjustments, according to the Mines and Energy Minister Amylkar Acosta.

Following a decision early this month from the Constitutional Court that the executive branch could no longer set fuel prices, the court has also rejected a request to suspend the ramifications of the ruling for a year.

Nubia Orozco Acosta has been sworn in to run the National Environmental Licensing Authority after its former director Luz Helena Sarmiento took the Environmental Minister’s role earlier this month.

Selling a small percentage of Ecopetrol (NYSE:EC) instead of the whole of electrical energy generator Isagén would be preferable for the government to raise money for a needed investment in infrastructure says the VP of Colombia’s Senate, Carlos Emiro Barriga.