The oil sector accounted for nearly a third of all foreign direct investment (FDI) in Colombia in 2012, summing US$ 5.377bn of the US$ 15.823bn invested in the country during 2012, making it the 3rd largest destination of foreign funds in the region, according to an annual report on FDI published by the UN’s economic commission on Latin America (ECLAC).
Colombia’s mining vice minister Natalia Gutiérrez said that the government has decided to implement the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI), joining Peru as the second nation in South America to do so.
The implementation of new technologies for exploration, the consolidation of off shore drilling projects and shale oil and gas projects sit squarely as priorities for the future of Colombia’s hydrocarbon industry, according to German Arce, president of the National Hydrocarbons Agency (AHN).
Infrastructure investments in projects such as highways or added port facilities are required in order for Colombia to continue growing from mining and hydrocarbon production, according to Colombia’s Petroleum Association (ACP).
The USO said that it has received more death threats last week directed towards union leaders in the Magdalena Medio region in a letter it says is signed by the Paramilitary group Los Rastrojos.
The peace delegations of Colombia’s government and the Farc have produced the first major agreement –on land reforms- to come out of peace talks held in Havana, Cuba.