ACP as a source of information
Source: Money – National
Date: January 23
Headline: Fracking: 2020, a decisive year
The Government already has the decree ready that will regulate the fracking pilots, but it will still have to face several obstacles. The determinations it makes regarding this in 2020 will mark the country's energy future. In December, the Ministry of Mines and Energy published for comments the decree to regulate the Comprehensive Research Pilot Projects (PPiI), the known fracking pilots. (…) For his part, Francisco Lloreda, President of the Colombian Petroleum Association (ACP), indicated that 2020 is a decisive year for fracking. Indeed, the pilot decree marks the starting point for the development of this technique. Lloreda added that fracking has become a political cause, which has made it difficult to have an adequate technical and scientific debate. The ACP hopes that the regulatory pieces will be ready this year to start with the first four PPI in the first half of next year. (…) The representative of the guild stated that there are already four companies ready to develop the unconventional, Exxonmobil, ConocoPhillips, Drummond, and Ecopetrol (which is already developing fracking in the United States). Responded in: dinero.com (January 23).
Guild
Source: El Espectador
Date: January 23
Headline: Aquifers. By: José Fernando Isaza
A priority in environmental management is to preserve aquifers. The commission of experts created to study the environmental effects (biotic, physical, and social) of hydrocarbon exploitation through fracking points out the lack of a complete inventory of aquifers in the country. (…) The hydraulic fracturing process is highly water-consuming. The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) states that, in a sample of 19,616 unconventional oil wells during the period 2011-2013, the average consumption per well was 4.3 million liters, with maximum values of 22.9 million liters (O. P. Luchini). The water used returns to the surface, some is reinjected, and what is not injected spreads on the surface, penetrating and contaminating the surface and shallow aquifers. (…) It can be argued that in Colombia we will be more careful, but the rupture in 2018 of an abandoned conventional well caused it to spill crude oil to the surface for almost a month, causing great environmental damage. Why is the exploration of conventional hydrocarbons not being prioritized?
Source: La República
Date: January 23
Headline: ‘We want to strengthen the U.S. market this year’
With the idea of giving a second life to shipping containers, E-Containers was born a decade ago, a Colombian venture that seeks to convert these spaces into sales rooms, offices, restaurants, showrooms, houses, or libraries. Andrés Valencia, the CEO, explained the work they are doing and the plans for this year. (…) Who are your main clients? We currently work with Grupo Éxito, Minerva Foods, Colombina, Constructora Bolívar, Constructora Galias, Prodesa, Alcabama, Colpatria, Sodimac, the United Nations, the Colombian Armed Forces, Continental Gold, Grupo Nutresa, Canacol Energy, Italcol, Terpel, among others. We want to be the main ally of companies in sectors such as construction, mining-energy, transportation, pharmaceuticals, and industrial.
Source: Portafolio
Date: January 23
Headline: ‘Latin America is not the poorest in the world, but it is the most inequitable’
One of the people who does not stop attending the World Economic Forum is the Mexican Alicia Bárcena, executive secretary of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean, ECLAC, an entity affiliated with the United Nations. Amid her busy schedule in Davos, the official spoke with Portafolio. (…) Donald Trump experienced in Davos like those dinner guests who, when finishing the last dish, decide to have a long after-dinner conversation while the hosts try to contain their sleep. And instead of making an entrance through the exit, as happened in 2018, the occupant of the White House stayed in the Swiss town longer than observers thought. (…) A dinner held at the Waldhuus hotel titled “Latin America: reforming for growth and inclusion” was fully booked. The speakers included Iván Duque, as well as Brazilian super minister Paulo Guedes and Argentine Guillermo Nielsen – head of the oil company YPF – among others.
Source: El Nuevo Siglo
Date: January 23
Headline: The Attorney General sanctioned the former president of Reficar for a corruption scandal
A new measure was taken yesterday by the Attorney General of the Nation in the investigation that has been ongoing for nearly four years regarding the multimillion-dollar cost overruns that occurred in the upgrading of the Cartagena refinery, one of the largest corruption scandals in the country's history. The control entity sanctioned the then president and legal representative of the Reficar company, Reyes Reinoso Yáñez, with a 12-month suspension for the payment of invoices to the firm Chicago Bridge and Iron (CB&I), without fulfilling all the verifications agreed upon in the EMC agreement. (…) This fact constituted a potential risk for the funds invested by the Colombian State and Ecopetrol in the Cartagena Refinery.”.
Source: Dinero
Date: January 23
Headline: Canacol sales rise
A growth of 231% in gas sales was reported in the fourth quarter of 2019 by Canacol, whose main operations are in Colombia. The company stated that during that period it sold 180 million standard cubic feet per day compared to 146 million in the same period of 2018. In 2020, Canacol plans to drill 12 exploration, development, and advanced wells. Additionally, it announced its exit from the oil business, after closing the sale of its Rancho Hermoso field in the last quarter, officially marking its exit from the production and exploration of conventional crude oil.
Source: Dinero
Date: January 23
Headline: Impactful economic discussions
Semana and Dinero will hold the Great Forum Colombia 2020, a space to discuss the most relevant issues in the country and propose a roadmap regarding economic, political, and social matters. The Colombian economy closed the year 2019 with one of the highest growth rates in the region. (…) Some of them include Mauricio Cárdenas, former Minister of Finance; Sergio Fajardo, former presidential candidate; Rafael de la Cruz, manager of the Country Department of the Andean Group of the IDB; Alicia Arango, former Minister of Labor; Bruce Mac Master, president of ANDI; Santiago Montenegro, president of Asofondos; Luis Fernando Mejía, executive director of Fedesarrollo; Felipe Bayón, president of Ecopetrol; Astrid Álvarez, president of the Bogotá Energy Group; Orlando Cabrales Segovia, president of Naturgas; Charle Gamba, president of Canacol Energy; Fabián Hernández, president of Telefónica; Richard Francis, from Fitch Ratings; Paula Bernal, manager of DiDi Colombia, among others.
Source: Dinero
Date: January 23
Headline: Where to invest. Stocks, will the good streak continue?
Last year was positive for Colombian stocks. Good levels of profitability were recorded despite external volatility and the depreciation of the peso against the dollar. (…) The recommended stocks for 2020. 3. Ecopetrol. The year started positively for this stock as concerns about a global recession have been decreasing, stabilizing the price of oil. Additionally, the start of fracking pilots is favorable. 4. Canacol. The strategy carried out in 2019 to focus on natural gas in Colombia, after selling almost all of its conventional crude assets in 2018, offers good growth expectations.
Source: El Meridiano de Córdoba
Date: January 23
Headline: Canacol started 2020 with drilling in Córdoba
Canacol Energy's program to drill 12 exploration, development, and advanced wells in 2020 began in Córdoba at the Nelson Field of the Esperanza block, with the Nelson 14 well near Ciénaga de Oro, the Canadian company reported in a statement. Currently, the well is being drilled to a measured depth of 6,500 feet, and once completed, it will be connected to the collection system of the Nelson fields through the Betania substation. The Pioneer 53 drilling rig will be moved to Clarinete 5 and is expected to start drilling in mid-February 2020. (…) Last year, the corporation closed the sale of its Rancho Hermoso crude field to a local operator, a negotiation that marked its exit from the business of producing and exploring conventional crude oil in the country.
Topics
Source: El Tiempo
Date: January 23
Headline: Foreign investment in 2020, between the highest growth and political challenges
That the Colombian economy can grow 3.6 percent in 2020, double that of Latin America and more than one percentage point above the global projection, according to the World Bank, is one of the factors that will play a role in attracting foreign capital and direct investments this year. (…) “66.1 percent of these resources, 6.858 billion dollars, were received by the oil and hydrocarbons sector, registering an increase of 5.1 percent. The remaining 3.508 billion were allocated to other sectors and achieved a growth of 63.1 percent compared to 2018,” say analysts from Grupo Bolívar.
Source: Portafolio
Date: January 23
Headline: Oil fell 2.11% to US$63.21
Oil prices fell yesterday to their lowest level since early December, at a time when supply continues to grow and there are concerns about the spread of a virus from China. Brent dropped 2.11% to US$63.21.
FSource: Portafolio
Date: January 23
Headline: In 2019, the price of drilling rigs increased
For the third consecutive year, growth in drilling activity in the country has been recorded. This was reported by the Chamber of Oil Goods and Services (Campetrol) in its consolidated annual report, specifying that in the 12 months of 2019, there was an annual average of 139 rigs in operation, representing an increase of 71% (10 rigs) compared to the average of 2018. The figure is noteworthy, considering that for the oil activity of 2016, only 30 rigs were recorded in operation.
Source: Portafolio
Date: January 23
Headline: Return of protectionism. By: Germán Umaña Mendoza
I still remember the images on news broadcasts and media where waves of ‘tourists’ from Japan visited companies around the world, armed with tiny cameras), whose images, it was said, were used to make copies of machinery and equipment, systems, and procedures that violated both intellectual property in patents, trademarks, integrated circuits, and copyright. (…) Instead of adopting active policies to promote the real sector of our economies and, therefore, the production of goods and services other than commodities, we remain trapped in simply promoting foreign direct investment in non-renewable resources and especially in fracking, destroying the future and without generating the slightest sustainability in development.
Institutional
Source: El Tiempo
Date: January 23
Headline: Former Minister Cabrales acquitted in Reficar case
The Attorney General's Office made substantive decisions regarding the investigation into cost overruns at the Cartagena Refinery (Reficar): it disciplined former company president Reyes Reinoso Yáñez and acquitted five former executives, including former Minister of Mines Orlando Cabrales. Reinoso Yáñez was suspended for 12 months from his position for paying invoices without fulfilling all the required verifications for those payments. According to the Public Ministry's investigation, the former official “transgressed his obligations as a representative of the company, by not making forecasts about the possible recovery of the resources” paid, which “constituted a potential risk for the funds invested by the Colombian State and Ecopetrol in the Cartagena Refinery.”.
Source: El Espectador
Date: January 23
Headline: «The goal is to add 2 billion barrels of crude.»
The large reserves that Colombia may have are in the development of unconventional deposits (YNC), according to the official. Given the growing possibility that the country may lose its oil self-sufficiency, the National Hydrocarbons Agency (ANH) has taken several actions to stop that threat. After five years without signing a single oil contract, Luis Miguel Morelli, the president of the ANH, said that last year 26 contracts were prepared with which they expect to add 2,000 million barrels of oil reserves. But it is undeniable that hopes are based on the development of fracking, Morelli said in a dialogue with El Espectador.
Source: Portafolio
Date: January 23
Headline: This is how the entire LPG supply is being organized in the country.
The National Government has been strictly following the roadmap that guarantees the supply and provision of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) or propane gas in the country. (…) “There is potential mainly in the Barrancabermeja sources and in the Cupiagua field, which require a price signal for their operation. If local supply is not developed, it is feasible to consider setting up import projects preferably operated by a third party or independent entity that does not have participation in active agents in the LPG chain,” the plan emphasizes. (…) “The Ministry of Mines must adopt these supply plans and Creg must issue regulations on remuneration and execution of the identified investments and review the methodology for determining LPG transportation tariffs through pipelines,” emphasized Alejandro Martínez, president of Gasnova.
Source: Dinero
Date: January 23
Headline: High-tension issues for 2020.
Minister María Fernanda Suárez will face these challenges throughout the year. The search for new energy sources, Hidroítuango, and Electricaribe will mark her agenda. 2020 is a crucial year for the energy sector. (…) Natural gas. The country is on alert regarding the supply of this fuel, as according to data revealed by the Mining-Energy Planning Unit (Upme), Colombia has only 8.6 years of natural gas reserves and new demand factors could exacerbate the decline in reserves. (…) The Ministry has acted quickly and is about to publish the decree that will regulate the development of the Integral Pilot Projects for Fracking, with which it is expected to gather sufficient information to expand the baseline information and ensure that this technique is carried out in the best way.
Source: La Opinión
Date: January 23
Headline: Climate change.
The antagonism over climate change was evident in Davos (Switzerland) with the statements of U.S. President Donald Trump about what he called “eternal catastrophists and their apocalyptic predictions,” and Greta Thunberg, the young Swedish activist who is astonished because “nothing has been done” for the planet. (…) This debate does not escape the famous and for many feared fracking that could be launched in Colombia this year, as according to the National Hydrocarbons Agency “Colombia's self-sufficiency is at a very high risk.” For that reason, the National Government will conduct pilot tests to determine the subsequent use of that procedure for hydrocarbon extraction using unconventional techniques.
Colombian Association of Oil and Gas