ACP as a source of information
Source: Portafolio – National
Date: February 06
Headline: In one year, Anla has received 80 license applications
In the last year, the National Authority of Environmental Licenses (Anla) has received for study and approval 80 applications for the development of mining and oil projects in the country. (…) “Work agendas have been developed with the Ministry of Mines and Energy (MME), the National Hydrocarbons Agency (ANH), the National Mining Agency (ANM), and the Colombian Geological Service (SGC) to understand where the major bets of the sectors are, and to have greater technical capacity regarding the decisions that may be made,” said Rodrigo Suárez Castaño, director of Anla. (…) In this regard, Francisco José Lloreda, president of the Colombian Petroleum Association (ACP), indicated that the companies in the sector he represents, “consider that the relationship with environmental authorities, particularly with Anla, has improved, and there has been progress with the issuance of the new moratorium decree.” He replied in: portafolio.co (February 05).
GREMIO
Source: El Espectador
Date: February 06
Headline: The latest bet of Fernando Londoño
Through a resource, the former minister insists before the Supreme Court on keeping the 145 million shares of the gas company Invercolsa, which he bought in 1996 and are valued at almost $100 billion. Almost a quarter of a century ago, during a process of shareholding democratization, the sale of the property that Ecopetrol had in the gas company Invercolsa took place. Since that moment, the matter became a scandal after lawyer Fernando Londoño acquired 145 million shares of the company. The point of contention was Londoño's connection with Invercolsa, as Ecopetrol expressed its disagreement with the deal on the grounds that he was never an employee of the entity but its president under a service provision contract. This dispute has lasted 24 years and seemed to have been definitively settled in October 2019.
Source: La República
Date: February 06
Headline: Weakening of emerging currencies will be temporary
Although during January the Colombian peso devalued by 4.20% due to fears arising from the impact of the coronavirus on the global economy, for BNP Paribas, the effect on emerging currencies will be temporary. This was analyzed by Joel Virgen, an economist at the financial institution for Latin America, who added that Colombian economic growth will stand out above that of its peers in the region. (…) For Virgen, although investors fear a slowdown in China, which would impact commodities like oil, international financial liquidity continues to favor the emerging world. (…) One of the main alerts raised by the economist is the impact that may arise from the decline in government revenues. Although he recalled that in 2019 the fiscal target was met, which will likely happen for the next year, he warned about what will happen beyond 2021, when official spending cannot be reduced further and there are no extra revenues like those from the Central Bank and Ecopetrol.
Source: La República
Date: February 06
Headline: For Fitch, meeting Colombia's fiscal target in 2020 will be challenging
Through a statement, the international rating agency, Fitch Ratings, described Colombia's fiscal situation this year as challenging and noted that it is likely that tax reforms, which include issues such as VAT refunds, will mean a decrease in revenues in 2020, so achieving the fiscal deficit target will depend on extraordinary revenues. (…) Regarding extraordinary revenues, the Entity referred to efforts to reduce evasion, disinvestments in non-strategic assets, and higher dividends from Ecopetrol and the Bank of the Republic, which will mitigate the decline but will not compensate for the losses.
Source: La República
Date: February 06
Headline: The Colombia + Canada Business Council was born in Medellín.
As a space for dialogue between representative companies from both countries that will seek to grow their businesses, and for new companies to better understand the existing opportunities in both markets, the Colombia + Canada Business Council was born in Medellín. (…) Presidents and representatives of well-known companies such as Argos, Ecopetrol, Celsia, Nutresa, Avianca, Air Canada, Scotiabank Colpatria, Pharmacielo, Canopy Growth, Brookfield-Isagen, among others, discussed the possibilities and challenges of business growth and the opportunities that arise for new companies. (…) As of October 2019, the total Colombian exports to Canada amounted to US$1,367 million, of which 68.1% (US$250 million) corresponded to non-mining energy products. Imports from Canada were US$1,746 million, closing in November of last year.
Source: Portafolio
Date: February 06
Headline: In 2020, 80% of Ecopetrol's investment would remain in the country.
This year, the largest company in the country plans to make investments between US$4,500 and US$5,500 million, which will undoubtedly be an important driver of the national economy, especially considering that about 80% of those amounts will go to projects in Colombia. (…) “78% of the investments will be allocated to projects in Colombia and the remainder will be invested in the positioning and development of the Group's operations in the U.S., Mexico, and Brazil,” explained a spokesperson for the oil company. It is worth noting that the company entered into a joint venture last year with the American Oxy to exploit unconventional deposits (UCD) in the Permian Basin in the U.S., one of the most prolific in terms of unconventional hydrocarbons in the world.
Source: Portafolio
Date: February 06
Headline: New threats to global oil companies.
(EFE) The United States threatened yesterday with sanctions against the Spanish oil company Repsol, the American Chevron, and the Indian conglomerate Reliance for their activities related to Venezuela, although it reserved its harshest warning for the Russian state oil company Rosneft.
Topics
Source: El Tiempo
Date: February 06
Headline: Conditions to not attack oil pipelines.
Ein. The eastern war front of the Eln issued a statement establishing conditions to suspend its actions against the «mining-energy locomotive.» They demand that fuel prices drop by up to 50 percent, remove mining-energy projects from indigenous reserve areas, prohibit fracking, eliminate tolls, and that oil revenues be managed by organized communities.
Source: La República
Date: February 06
Headline: Where is employment going? By: Germán Espinosa.
2019 was highly volatile for oil prices due to multiple global situational events. The price of Brent crude fluctuated between US$50 and US$75, closing the year with an average of US$64, 10% below that of 2018, which was US$71, and 20% above the average of the last five years of US$53. What will the scenario be in 2020 regarding oil prices? In the year that ended, the U.S. became the world's leading oil producer (thus surpassing Saudi Arabia) and a net exporter of crude oil thanks to fracking, while OPEC, with its quota control policy, managed to keep Brent above US$60. Tensions in the Middle East around Iran impacted crude supply and caused great uncertainty about the normal global flow of oil by affecting logistical chains in the region. Likewise, demand was affected by the trade war between the U.S. and China, which together consume 35% of the crude oil in the world.
Source: Portafolio
Date: February 06
Headline: OPEC extends its technical committee for one more day
(EFE) A technical committee of OPEC countries and their allies (OPEC+), chaired by Saudi Arabia and Russia, extended its meeting to a third day to analyze the impact of the coronavirus on the oil market and the possible responses to adopt. After eleven hours of deliberations without results or concrete recommendations for the oil ministers of the groups, the experts agreed to meet again today.
Source: Dinero
Date: February 06
Headline: The future of fracking
Fortunately, the State Council clarified the points regarding fracking. The country must first obtain all the information about this controversial technique and then decide whether or not to extract resources using these procedures. If we make a mistake, the experiment could be very costly. Juan Mario Díaz, Bucaramanga
Source: Vanguardia Liberal
Date: February 06
Headline: Measures adopted against the coronavirus stabilize the market
After being above $3.423, the dollar began its path to stabilization. During this week, the currency has lost $67.8. This drop led to it closing yesterday at an average price of $3.355,44, with a decrease of $13.43 against the TRM of Tuesday's session. (…) “It continued to be the main concern for the markets, with the news from the World Health Organization declaring it a public health emergency. However, the fundamental figures of the global economy continue to show resilience, with specific data in the U.S. economy showing a growth of 2.1% in the last quarter of 2019 and preliminary consumer confidence data rebounding in January. China, for its part, decided to lower the intervention rate by 10 basis points to 2.4,” explained Julián Cárdenas from the Protection Investment Vice Presidency.
Source: El Meridiano de Sucre
Date: February 06
Headline: 300 thousand jobs
The president of Naturgas, Orlando Cabrales, indicated that the application of «fracking» could generate 300 thousand jobs in Colombia.
Source: El Nuevo Día
Date: February 05
Headline: Fracking in trouble. By: Hugo Rincón González
With joy and enthusiasm, some communities and environmental NGOs received the news that was announced on the front page last Sunday in Nuevo Día, stating that the Administrative Court of Cundinamarca confirmed the suspension of fracking in the country. The information reported the imposition of new conditions on future pilot projects due to all the health and environmental risks generated by using that hydrocarbon extraction technique. (…) With these figures, President Duque's government has been reiterative about the importance of moving forward with pilot projects in the hope that they demonstrate they are harmless to the environment and thus guarantee the entry of these resources into the country, which according to some analysts could produce a new oil boom and Colombia could resolve many present needs.
Institutional
Source: Portafolio
Date: February 06
Headline: All gas stations in La Guajira are closed.
A total of 195 service stations in La Guajira decided to close their establishments in rejection of the measures adopted by the Ministry of Mines and Energy regarding the allocation of quotas. (…) According to fuel marketers in La Guajira, this disregards the reality of the region, which has been affected by fuel smuggling from Venezuela. (…) They add that this quota is not only lower than the commitment made by the Minister of Mines and Energy at the technical table in Fonseca, where she committed to increasing the quota to three million gallons (3,000,000 gallons), but it is also much lower than current consumption, considering that since May 2019, purchases made by the stations have reached peaks of up to three million six hundred seventy-one thousand gallons (3,671,000 gallons).
Source: Dinero
Date: February 06
Headline: The Government of the Missions.
In just a year and a half, the Government has called four missions: the fracking mission, which recommended conducting pilots to determine the impact of unconventional resources; the Wise Men mission, which provided guidance for the reforms needed in education - among its proposals was the creation of the Ministry of Science, Technology, and Innovation -; the Capital Markets mission, whose recommendations will be consolidated into a bill that the Government will take to Congress in this legislative session, and the energy mission, which has just presented its proposals to the Ministry of Mines regarding competition, subsidies, coverage, and institutional framework.
Source: Dinero
Date: February 06
Headline: The five challenges for this year.
During the Great Forum Colombia 2020, experts from the public and private sectors shared their views on the issues that will shape the social and economic agenda. (…) 5. Energy sufficiency. Within the framework of the Forum, the main representatives of the energy sector in the country gathered to discuss the best way to achieve a change in the energy matrix without jeopardizing self-sufficiency. They are concerned that many social groups have not adequately understood the serious consequences that becoming a net importer of fuels would have for the country's economy - as happened in the late 1970s - a risk that is increasingly looming due to the loss of oil and gas reserves. All despite the fact that Colombia has many resources. For this reason, responsibility must prevail over what is popular, stated the Minister of Mines and Energy, María Fernanda Suarez. «It is not in this government that the reserves will run out, but it is in this one where the country must make the decisions so that we do not lose our energy self-sufficiency,» she reiterated.
Source: El Pilón
Date: February 06
Headline: Strike in La Guajira worries gas stations in Cesar.
More than 100 service stations are on strike in La Guajira because the owners demand an increase of 3,000,000 gallons. The gasoline shortage in the neighboring department worries the operators of the stations in Cesar because it will increase the number of cars needing the energy product and there will not be enough fuel to supply both departments. The owners of 195 service stations in the department of La Guajira closed public service and fuel sales since last Monday to demand from the ministries of Mines and Energy, Finance, and Public Credit the increase of the subsidized gasoline quota that is necessary to meet the energy demand of the department, according to spokespeople for these commercial establishments.
Colombian Association of Oil and Gas