School is back in session for 2014 providing an opportunity for oil producers to give school supplies to communities in their area of influence, while another program looks to encourage environmental protection at the village committee level. These and other Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) stories.
Stories this week involving the public roadways and the oil industry include talks between local leaders and Equion, an Ecopetrol program to pave roads in Arauca, restrictions in Caquetá and more.
As Ecopetrol (NYSE:EC) shareholders go into today’s Annual Meeting they will probably be concerned about the dividend. They may be calmer than they might have been about the share price since it is up nearly US$5 from late February although still below where it closed at the end of 2013. They might complain about the refinery business. We think they should ask questions about growth.
A seismic exploration project being carried out by Pacific Rubiales is receiving increased resistance from local communities in Huila, where a number of government authorities, environmental activists and academics will organize a forum to discuss the matter.
Parex has held a press conference with local media outlets and looks to convince the local community that its plan to drill exploration wells in the Tinije Lagoon will be more environmentally safe than Spain’s Cepcolsa, who abandoned the project after community pressure.
GasThe Minister of Mines and Energy Amylkar Acosta is confident that a natural gas boom is coming to Colombia and that exporting gas to Panama, before the United States supplies the Central American market, is a current option.