ACP as a source of information
Source: El País – Regional
Author: Francisco José Lloreda Mera
Date: July 12
Headline: Genocidal revenge?
Six million Jews were murdered by the Nazis in World War II, a figure that rises to eleven million when including other national, ethnic, and political groups. Since then, the world has become aware of mass atrocities as a different type of crime from others, a crime that goes beyond all justification, due to its intention to systematically destroy a specific national, racial, or religious group. Raphael Lemkin, a Polish-Jewish lawyer, endeavored to describe and understand what happened, coining the term Genocide for that specific pattern of mass killings. It was reported in: elpais.com.co (July 12).
Source: El Colombiano – Regional
Date: July 11
Headline: Evaluation of fracking pilots, the expectation
“It is still to be defined how the results of the Comprehensive Research Pilot Projects (PPII) will be evaluated and the eventual transition to a later stage of exploration and production, if the technique is deemed viable,” says Francisco José Lloreda, president of the Colombian Petroleum Association (ACP) when asked about his expectations regarding the projects. Earlier this week, EL COLOMBIANO reported that it would take at least two more months for the “ball” to be in the private sector's court to begin the execution of the pilots, with the premise that the technical regulation from the Ministry of Mines and Energy has already been released and that the environmental, contractual, and social terms of reference are still pending, with their respective authorities: Minambiente, National Hydrocarbons Agency (ANH), and Mininterior. It was reported in: elcolombiano.com (July 11).
Source: Radio Guatapurí – Regional
Date: July 10
Source: Radio Guatapurí – Regional
Date: July 10
Source: portafolio.co – National
Author: Francisco José Lloreda Mera
Date: July 10
Headline: Fuels in border areas: importance of free competition
Moving the country depends on ensuring a reliable and efficient supply of fuels, which is no small task. It is an essential job involving various actors where the rules of the game are fundamental, and stimulating free competition maximizes the benefit for the final consumer. As established by law, and in consideration of subsidies and tax exemptions, the Ministry of Mines and Energy has the function of distributing gasoline and diesel in the departments and municipalities located in border areas. This function is carried out by delegating it, under efficiency criteria, through supply plans, to agents and wholesale distributors with commercial interest and logistical and technical capacity.
Source: hablemosdemineria.com – National
Date: July 10
Headline: 35 projects in the mining and energy sector will receive a boost of $37 trillion
The country is developing, under the ‘sustainable reactivation’ policy, a package of 35 mining, oil, and electricity projects whose investments are projected to exceed $37 trillion. (…) “The hydrocarbons sector will play a fundamental role in the economic reactivation of the country. The legal stability and contractual conditions we offer have generated trust and interest among investors,” said Armando Zamora, President of the National Hydrocarbons Agency (ANH). Likewise, Francisco José Lloreda, president of the Colombian Petroleum Association (ACP) said that “advancing in hydrocarbon operations, offshore and onshore, represents an opportunity to contribute to the country's progress, especially at this moment when economic and energy resources are needed to boost its reactivation after the pandemic.” He replied in: paisminero.com (July 10).
GREMIO
Source: La República
Date: July 13
Headline: How did $700 million from Oil and Gas reach the Democratic Center?
Canacol Energy is a company that was established in 2008 for the production of oil and gas in Latin America. Its most recent interests are related to fracking projects. In Colombia, they applied for a license for a hydraulic fracturing project in the Magdalena Medio, along with the American company ConocoPhillips, which the National Environmental Licenses Authority (Anla) ultimately denied on March 20, 2019, because the companies did not meet the requested conditions at a time when the country was debating the possibility of exploiting unconventional deposits.
Source: La República
Date: July 13
Headline: Opportunities offered by the Colombian energy sector
Colombia, thanks to its geographical location and climatic characteristics, has all the conditions to develop different renewable or alternative energy projects throughout its territory. (…) In the work, one can learn about the history and experience in the energy sector, investments, innovation projects, and future plans of the companies that were part of the book, including Acipet, Ecopetrol, Energía de Pereira, Grupo Energía Bogotá, ISA, Isagen, Renault-Sofasa, Siemens, Campetrol, and Cerrejón.
Source: La Guajira
Date: July 13
Headline: The plane is not mine! by Amilkar Acosta Medina
Recently, consultant Mauricio Cabrera titled his opinion column saying that, “Avianca must be rescued.” And I would add that not only Avianca but also Latam and the other airlines that connect Colombia and Colombia with the world. And more than rescuing these companies, it is about […] Recently, consultant Mauricio Cabrera titled his opinion column saying that, “Avianca must be rescued.” (…) It is extremely concerning that this Decree leaves a loophole for the eventual privatization of Isa or Ecopetrol, when it refers to the authority to alienate, “the state’s shareholding… that it holds in a certain company.” That said, in our view, official assistance to companies should be temporary, limited, and conditional.
Source: eje21.com.co
Date: July 13
Headline: El Olfato. No to the sale of Ecopetrol
Although the commission agents are salivating at the mouth taking advantage of Decree 811 of 2020 to sell state assets, opposition to a possible deal for Ecopetrol is growing. Minister Carrasquilla has already announced a Tax Reform and, like his predecessor in the Public Treasury chair, the easiest thing is to sell state-owned companies. The first to be alarmed were the oil unions. The Union Sindical Obrera, USO, a powerful association in other times, has already demanded that the regulation be declared unconstitutional. The Association of Petroleum Engineers, Acipet, also took to the media to protest the government measure.
Source: lareporteria.com
Date: July 13
Headline: ‘Sale of Ecopetrol and other state assets is illegal’: Representative César Ortiz Zorro
The representative to the House for Casanare, César Ortiz Zorro, described the sale of Ecopetrol, CENIT, ISA, and other state assets that President Iván Duque Márquez intends as illegal and absurd. The congressman expressed his strong rejection and stated that it is “irrational and morally unacceptable, it aims to squander and waste the little public assets that remain to the Colombian people.” He added that under the current circumstances of economic recession due to the coronavirus pandemic and the poor macroeconomic management by the national government, it would be very absurd to sell ECOPETROL, ISA electric interconnection, and CENIT transportation at rock-bottom prices, as it is the worst time for the sale of public assets, given the critical global situation and the international drop in oil prices.
Source: El Colombiano
Date: July 12
Headline: The political center does have possibilities. By: Alejo Vargas Velásquez
It has been suggested by some sectors, against all evidence, that in the upcoming presidential elections, centrist positions have no political possibilities; I believe that this is more a matter of desire, and that is disastrous in politics. In any society, there tends to be a broad range of voters who position themselves between center-right, through the center, to center-left in politics. (…) It is also essential to modify the tax structure so that those who have the most and earn the most are the ones who pay the most taxes, moving towards a universalization of taxation; likewise, to maintain and strengthen state-owned companies like Ecopetrol as the axis of the state business group.
Topics
Source: La República
Date: July 13
Headline: The recession due to covid will be more than double that of the financial crisis.
According to a publication by the World Bank, global per capita GDP could register a reduction of 6.21% by the end of this year, that is, more than double what it recorded during the financial crisis of 2008, as shown in the graph. (…) The collapses will be the result of the world experiencing an unprecedented weakening in activities related to services, trade, and oil consumption. This will also lead to the global unemployment rate likely reaching its highest level since 1965.
Source: Portafolio
Date: July 13
Headline: The government lowered the price of a gallon of diesel by 1.17%.
After several meetings between officials from the Ministry of Transport and the Federation of Cargo Transporters (Fedetranscarga), the Government decided to reduce the price of diesel by 1.17%. The measure, which came into effect last Friday, implies a decrease in the price of a gallon of diesel from an average of 8,010 pesos to 7,893 pesos in Bogotá.
Source: El Heraldo
Date: July 13
Headline: Reficar delivered 19,000 new PCR tests to Cartagena.
This is the second batch that completes the 33,400 diagnostic tests that the company contributed for the detection of the virus in the city, for 1.2 billion pesos.
Source: El Tiempo
Date: July 12
Headline: Extractive institutions and post-pandemic due to Covid-19.
The impact generated by the new coronavirus should have stimulated a decisive shift in aspects such as boosting productivity, innovation, or environmental sustainability; however, the most powerful sectors are inflexible in their defense of extractivism. Thus, the post-pandemic announces a new cycle of battles for the exploitation of natural and energy resources in Colombian territories. (…) With the failure of the Final Peace Agreement, environmental problems intensified. Until May, there were nearly 35 attacks against the Caño Limón-Coveñas, Bicentenario, and Transandino pipelines. Furthermore, the national government's willingness to regulate labor intermediation in oil areas exacerbated conflicts between oil companies, unions, and the community. Likewise, during the pandemic, the residents of Magdalena Medio protested, putting 368 wells out of service, causing production losses close to 11,000 barrels of oil per day.
Institutional
Source: Portafolio
Date: July 13
Headline: Offshore oil and gas, Colombia basin, a gold mine
In terms of oil self-sufficiency, the country can be relatively calm, as it is estimated that there are large volumes of hydrocarbon reserves on the seabed of the Caribbean Sea. And while it is projected that the Sinú Offshore and Guajira Offshore basins have promising prospects for gas, the real ‘gold mine’ is a few nautical miles to the north, in the Colombia basin, whose hydrocarbon reserves could triple in number compared to the previous two. And it is precisely this available natural volume in the mentioned basin that is attracting the attention of world-class oil companies with extensive experience in oil and natural gas exploration and production, who have already inquired with the National Hydrocarbons Agency (ANH) about available blocks for development.
Source: Portafolio
Date: July 13
Headline: Is it the time for ‘fracking’? By Luis Augusto Yepes
The current public health crisis caused by COVID-19, in addition to changing the world and the way we relate as a human species, will bring considerable economic costs for Colombia due to the reduction in productive activity and public attention to the most disadvantaged and vulnerable, whose meager incomes derived from their daily activities have been cut off by the mandatory quarantine. (…) The country is witnessing the debate between proponents and opponents of fracking. Some embrace the recommendation of the Commission of Wise Men convened by the Minister of Mines and Energy and support conducting pilot tests in order to develop oil exploration and production activities in a controlled manner, monitoring all process variables and involving interested groups.
Source: Portafolio
Date: July 13
Headline: The energy reactivation
A few days ago, an editorial in this newspaper raised the question about the possibility for a series of large mining projects to strengthen economic recovery plans. In addition to eight initiatives from gold, copper, and coal mining, the Ministry of Mines has a package of another 26 projects for the so-called “sustainable reactivation” policy. The range includes 19 renewable electricity generation projects and seven for the extraction of oil and natural gas. Eight departments of the country from La Guajira to Putumayo, plus six offshore initiatives on the Caribbean Coast, make up the map of these investments that, along with the mining package, could reach 37 trillion pesos and nearly 60,000 jobs in the coming years.
Source: El Meridiano de Córdoba
Date: July 13
Headline: Awaiting regulations
The National Hydrocarbons Agency indicated that once the regulations are published, they will open a call for 4 fracking projects, with an investment of US$100 million for each.
Source: El Tiempo
Date: July 12
Headline: This will be the route to deploy fracking pilots in Colombia
The ANH will launch the call for four projects, with an investment of US$100 million each. Due to the crisis, oil companies have requested to move investments of US$688 million. The combination of low oil prices and the coronavirus pandemic also led to a slowdown in exploratory investment in oil and gas in Colombia, to the point that oil companies requested to transfer investments of 356.7 million dollars and extend contract times with an effect of another 331.9 million dollars. However, the country's agenda to start the process of understanding the technology of multistage horizontal fracturing of unconventional hydrocarbon reservoirs, known as fracking, has not stopped. This was stated to EL TIEMPO by the president of the National Hydrocarbons Agency (ANH), Armando Zamora, who explained that once the respective regulations are published in July, a call will be opened that will be awarded in October, aiming for environmental licenses to be approved in December, so that deployment can begin in 2021.
Colombian Association of Oil and Gas