A decision by the Constitutional Court on Mansarovar Energy’s action for the protection of its constitutional rights (“tutela”) had been widely anticipated. The hope was that it would clarify the issue of whether municipalities can block extractive industry activities. We now have the decision, but questions still remain on the practical implications of the ruling. The situation has been muddied by a State Council decision reaffirming the obligation of local governments to ask their citizens what they think about major issues. We asked Inés-Elvira Vesga and Leopoldo Olavarría of Norton Rose Fulbright for their interpretation of these apparently contradictory decisions. Below are their views:
Alberto Carrasquilla, Minister of Finance (MinHacienda), and Maria Fernanda Suarez, Minister of Mines and Energy (MinMinas), presented the draft royalties’ budget for the period 2019-2020 in the Congress, to kick-off the discussion of its approval. Oil contributions are key in this budget.
The Constitutional Court’s ruling in favor of Mansarovar is still generating reactions among political sectors. Here are the details.
The investigation into the scandal of the Cartagena refinery (Reficar) continues to advance. The Attorney General’s office and Nicolas Isaksson Palacios, former legal head of Reficar reached an ‘agreement’.
Oil theft has become a headache for Ecopetrol’s (NYSE:EC) finances, but the Police was able to capture one of the bands that operated in Buenaventura (Valle del Cauca). The development of these and other stories in our periodic Security summary.
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