Recently I found myself in Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) explaining the impact of lower oil prices to an audience of telecom managers, the vast majority of them Saudis.
Last week’s announcement of 916 mbd for March production was a shocker but MinMinas said nothing about why it happened. Virtually the next day, April 22, 2016, the ANH published field level detail for January and February (but not, unfortunately, March).
The USO said that its actions to oppose fracking through marches and to demand the government ban the process has made it the target of the national police and it has sounded an urgent alarm for greater protection.
While there have been advances in mapping the potential and developing regulations to accommodate unconventional production in Colombia, critical parts of the regulatory framework are still missing and high costs / low oil prices do not help.
The recent decision to reverse an environmental license issued to Hupecol for exploration in the Serranía block due a public outcry has the Colombian Petroleum Association (ACP) concerned for the lack of coherence in applying its policies, which risks lost investment and legal stability.
The Colombian government said it raised US$530M in 2015 for the post conflict transition, while the Economist claims that the Farc is sitting on a secret stash of as much as US$10.5B, a claim the guerrilla denies.