News and AnalysIs for

To view or download the pdf form of our late 2013 Quick Pulse Survey.

We start this month with a long and important essay by Luis Ernesto Mejía Castro, HCC contributor and ex-MinMinas, on the current anxieties of the industry in Colombia.

This week the United Nations held its second regional summit of Latin American leaders in Havana, Cuba and the peace talks in Colombia were a recurrent theme, while back in Colombia some question whether a fissure in the Farc’s organization is already taking place.

Following accusations that its contracting process of transportation firms is excluding local, small and medium sized companies Ecopetrol (NYSE:EC) has suspended the contract process for two months while it reviews the terms and conditions.

This Friday, January 31 Pacific Rubiales (TSX:PRE) and Ecopetrol (NYSE:EC) will meet to review the future of the production contract on the Rubiales field, which is set to expire in May 2016 and has been a lightning rod for political grandstanding in the last few months.

The National Hydrocarbons Agency (ANH) has issued a resolution that will alter the distribution of royalties so that oil producing receiving regions will receive a greater amount for royalties generated towards the end of the prior, direct payment system.