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Minister of Mines and Energy Federico Renjifo spoke to an important legal conference in Cartagena this week. This was not his speech to the CWC Colombia Oil & Gas Summit and Exhibition which our correspondent said was the same speech trotted out at every conference and so unworthy of commentary. These remarks to senior lawyers and judges reflect the fine line that the Santos government is trying to tread between developing extractive industries while maintaining high environmental and community relationship standards. From a MinMinas press release, translated and with commentary by Hydrocarbons Colombia.

We will report separately on MinMinas Renjifo’s comments to the annual CWC Colombia Oil & Gas Summit and Exhibition in Cartagena but there was a lively forum on exploration that got to the heart of the country’s current problems with reserve growth. The issue for the industry participants in a round table and especially for Talisman’s Chris Spaulding and Gran Tierra’s Duncan Nightingale is that Colombia is not drilling anywhere close to enough wells.

National newsmagazine Dinero reports on its ‘rumors’ page that President Juan Manuel Santos is about to do a cabinet shuffle. The last such shuffle in September brought Federico Renjifo from MinInterior to MinMinas. Dinero reports that Renjifo is one of those rumored to be leaving at least his current post in the shuffle.

Extractive industry organizations are working hard to counteract a vein of negativity that some populist politicians leveraged for their own advantage. The badly managed renewal of a nickel-mining concession and a poorly handled coal spill off the Caribbean coast have caused all multinational extractive companies to be demonized. The major industry associations have struck back. From a Colombian Petroleum Association (ACP) press release, translated and with commentary by Hydrocarbons Colombia.

As reported by Dinero among others, according to the National Planning Department (DNP), after the recent reform to the royalties system, the OCAD have approved US$4.9B to invest in 2,100 projects. “Of these resources, US$2.7B came from the royalty system and another US$2.2B via joint financing from the national or regional budget. Of the US$2.7B approved US$1.9B have been transferred to accounts of municipalities, and this month the balance will be transferred”, said Mauricio Santa Maria, director of the DNP.

At the natural gas industry’s annual conference a few weeks ago, ex-ANH head and now Vice-minister of Energy, Orlando Cabrales, talked about the Coal Bed Methane (CBM) opportunity. The only National Hydrocarbons Agency (ANH) auction planned this year is for CBM and the next big oil and gas auction is not expected until 2014. Based on the data which we show in the above chart, Cabrales expects 23TCF of CBM to be available from the six top areas.

The Environment section of national newspaper El Espectador devoted nearly a full page of today’s edition to a report (from Spain’s El País) on a 5.7 magnitude quake in Prague, Oklahoma in 2011. The El País story in turn is based on a report in Geology magazine which concludes the quake was caused by the accumulated impact of 20 years of water reinjection from a conventional gas well. The photo used to illustrate the story, and indeed most of the story, has to do with the fracking debate and the relevance of this incident to nonconventional hydrocarbons development.

Last week was the natural gas industry association’s annual conference and he minister’s speech is a much anticipated event. MinMinas Renjifo did not disappoint the crowd with the breadth of his speech but we understand the content has the industry concerned over certain points. From a MinMinas press release, translated and with commentary by Hydrocarbons Colombia.

Maybe he took vacation or maybe these things just take time. The changes were announced weeks ago and the former head of the ANH, Orlando Cabrales, has already made a few speeches in his new capacity as Vice-Minister of Energy. The new head just took possession last week and has made no public comments. From a MinMinas press release, translated and with commentary by Hydrocarbons Colombia.

As reported by RCN Radio, road blocks were lifted around Yopal, capital of the Casanare department (which produces 18% of the country’s oil and 70% of its gas) after citizens barriaded them to protest the lack of water. According to Ivan Mustafa, Deputy Minister of Water, an agreement between the government and the people of Yopal was reached. Meanwhile, people will continue to receive water in tanker trucks.