Ecopetrol (NYSE:EC) has reiterated its call for dialogue at the Gibraltar gas plant, and that the U’wa community is putting itself and the installation at risk, so the NOC has brought in personnel to secure the facility. It insists that there are no public forces present, although local press reports contradict this.
A conflict between Ecopetrol’s (NYSE:EC) subsidiary Hocol with an indigenous community in Ortega, Tolima has stretched for more than eight months and shows no signs of improvement. Now the municipality is warning it has no resources for public services as a result.
The government and striking truckers signed an agreement last Friday to end a violent and costly 45 day strike, which affected various other economic sectors. Now the first details of the agreement have started to reach press
The government has rejected the takeover of the Ecopetrol (NYSE:EC) Gibraltar gas plant by the U´wa indigenous people in Norte de Santander, but ruled out taking it back by force until it has exhausted all other options.
The Constitutional Court approved the government’s plan to hold a referendum to accept or reject the peace agreements made with the Farc.
The U’wa indigenous group which had been blockading the road to the Gibraltar gas plant in Norte de Santander has now entered the facility and forced out 14 workers, the latest escalation in a conflict which has drawn on for 49 days.
The oil industry is not the only sector to suffer from constant blockades and protests. Mining projects, electrical lines and new highways have all suffered delays due to an increasing conflictive community relationship.
Fuel shortages, imported gasoline, a protested related death, soaring food prices, accusations of corruption and violence along Colombian roads are just a few of the consequences reported from the truckers’ strike that is already well into its second month.
A year after a blockade and protest led to intervention from riot police and national attention, residents in Valparaiso, Caquetá have again opposed reactivated exploration activities. This depicts the challenge for the industry to reach areas with potential for oil production that have previously been off limits due to the armed conflict.
It seemed only inevitable that with several weeks of advances at the peace talks in Havana that there would be setbacks. This week one of the Farc’s factions said it would not give up its arms, and a confusing incident between the guerrilla and the military shows how fragile the peace actually is.
2025, Hydrocarbons Colombia, All Rights Reserved.
