News and AnalysIs for

The momentum towards unconventional oil extraction in Colombia is gaining, but the industry is still lacking an established supply chain to support the operations, as well as more clarity in regulatory matters said the director of the Colombian Petroleum Institute (ICP) Andrés Mantilla Zárate.

The holiday season has passed us by, and the increase in spending does not just apply to retail shoppers looking for gifts, there have been a number of corporate social responsibility (CSR) projects that have came to fruit during the holiday season. From toys, to training to highways, here is a summary of some of the top programs making local headlines in December 2013.

The arrival of Javier Betancourt as the new president of the National Hydrocarbons Agency (ANH) led to the resignation of three of the five leading posts in the entity and new appointments aligned with Betancourt’s mandate.

The USO is back at full stride this week and leading last week’s list of statements were accusations that two of the four members detained recently for public order problems are facing a complex situation inside jail and lives are at risk, and repeated accusations that the government is targeting union members at the bidding of multinationals such as Pacific Rubiales (TSX:PRE).

The Minister of Mines and Energy (MinMinas) Amylkar Acosta Medina said that mining and energy companies can only make their projects viable by earning a “social license”, that is, respect with the local community through social impact and responsibility actions.

Incidents near areas of interest to the oil and gas industry were up significantly this week at 47, the highest level since early March. Non-Armed Forces-reported incidents were above average in absolute terms but below average as a percentage of the total. This is our indicator of increased guerrilla-initiated activity. Our 4-week Moving Average incident count was up at 28.8 and the 52 week average was actually down slightly but essentially unchanged at 32.6 incidents per week.