News and AnalysIs for

The French oil giant Total has had an important investment in Colombia. But its recently published 2012 Annual Report shows that commitment is dwindling and is now quite minor. Having sold its long-time interest in Cuisana to Emerald last October, it is left with participation in exploration block in Niscota and a small piece of the Ocensa pipeline. What would be its next move?

We made somewhat light of Ecopetrol’s announcement in March of a well with just over 200bd production. Now here is another announcement which is 3x the size! This is an improvement but it is still only a 0.1% increase in the company’s production. Like the last announcement, this one got wide coverage in the Colombian press. From an Ecopetrol press release, translated and with commentary by Hydrocarbons Colombia.

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.