Following on his order to study tax breaks for the oil industry, President Juan Manuel Santos has now called on sector entities to study a reduction in pipeline rates to boost the industry’s financial standing.
The National Hydrocarbons Agency (ANH) is defining the final terms of its “Permanent and Dynamic Area Assignment” plan and then will send it for review to the Superintendence of Industry and Commerce (SIC), so that the parameters will be ready by the end of the month. The first “mini-round” would then occur at the end of May or latest by June.
Repeated calls for action from national authorities from Barrancabermeja politicians and residents earned them a meeting with Ecopetrol (NYSE:EC) president Juan Carlos Echeverry. The NOC chief did not budge on decisions to not modernize the city’s refinery, but said it remains a strategic asset for the firm.
There were small signs of advances in the talks with the Farc this week, with the final details of some of the most delicate issues -referendums, Farc prisoners abroad and the post-conflict judicial process- in discussion.
Government officials from Colombia, Ecuador, Venezuela, Bolivia and Mexico met to discuss cooperation and craft a common message ahead of an OPEC meeting on April 17. Colombia was represented by the Minister of Mines and Energy Lorena Gutiérrez.
The Llanos Orientales and the Meta Department in particular lead the country in royalty irregularities according to an audit performed by the General Controller (CGR) in the second half of 2015.