Tomás González left his MinMinas post in March and April’s gasoline price announcement was delayed by several weeks. May’s was on time but in June prices were frozen until further notice. Now it appears if July’s are as well.
Meta’s capital Villavicencio has seen an increase in unemployment due to the cutbacks in the oil industry, although the city has also seen a social housing boom in the last year. Mayor Wilmar Barbosa is concerned this trend could also be affected.
The Minister of Mines and Energy (MinMinas) Germán Arce attended the official handover of the Rubiales field and said that the field was never really under any ownership other than the Colombian public, and its resources are needed for the post conflict transition.
Public rejection of an environmental license for production near “the world’s most beautiful river”, Caño Cristales, might have led the revoked license of Hupecol, but the uncertainty is much bigger, considering how many more projects are in the same area.
Reduced drilling times, an efficient use of personnel and new technologies tested in other fields are some of the goals that Ecopetrol has put in place to reverse a declining production trend in the Rubiales field, according to its VP of production Hector Manosalva.
Ecopetrol (NYSE:EC) has applied for modifications to its environmental licenses to drill new wells in the vicinity of Barranca. It has met with residents from 120 area villages to socialize the changes and impact it could have on the community. Municipal authorities say they will verify the work.