News and AnalysIs for

Every Monday we publish the Petroleum Workers’ Union’s (USO) latest complaints about the hydrocarbons industry’s treatment of its workers. To read their press releases, one would imagine slavery or the Gulag archipelago or some other Dickensian scenes from the past. Here is the international organization charged with protecting workers’ rights giving the country a pat on the back. From a Ministry of Labor press release, translated and with commentary by Hydrocarbons Colombia.

The oil and gas industry calls the region “Los Llanos” and it is a flat plane (llanos) extending to and beyond the border with Venezuela. But viewed ecologically it is part of the Orinoco basin, the great river that defines part of the border and eventually flows into the Atlantic Ocean on the eastern side of Venezuela. Five rivers flow through the Colombian Llanos and into the Orinoco including such well-known industry names as the Meta, the Arauca and the Guaviare. The economic potential of the region is huge from hydrocarbons to agriculture to rare earths. Pacific Rubiales, the ANDI (the Colombian businesspersons association) and Semana magazine recently convened a forum on the region’s future. From a Pacific Rubiales press release, translated and with commentary by Hydrocarbons Colombia.

Extractive industry organizations are working hard to counteract a vein of negativity that some populist politicians leveraged for their own advantage. The badly managed renewal of a nickel-mining concession and a poorly handled coal spill off the Caribbean coast have caused all multinational extractive companies to be demonized. The major industry associations have struck back. From a Colombian Petroleum Association (ACP) press release, translated and with commentary by Hydrocarbons Colombia.

As reported by Dinero among others, according to the National Planning Department (DNP), after the recent reform to the royalties system, the OCAD have approved US$4.9B to invest in 2,100 projects. “Of these resources, US$2.7B came from the royalty system and another US$2.2B via joint financing from the national or regional budget. Of the US$2.7B approved US$1.9B have been transferred to accounts of municipalities, and this month the balance will be transferred”, said Mauricio Santa Maria, director of the DNP.

According to a publication on mining and energy issues from the newspaper El Nuevo Siglo, Colombia is a leader in the creation of jobs in this sector. According to a study conducted by the Oil & Gas Division of the recruiting company Hays; there will be a increased demand for production and transportation jobs of the mining and energy sector in Colombia.

At the natural gas industry’s annual conference a few weeks ago, ex-ANH head and now Vice-minister of Energy, Orlando Cabrales, talked about the Coal Bed Methane (CBM) opportunity. The only National Hydrocarbons Agency (ANH) auction planned this year is for CBM and the next big oil and gas auction is not expected until 2014. Based on the data which we show in the above chart, Cabrales expects 23TCF of CBM to be available from the six top areas.