Page 12 - LatAmOil Week 26

LatAmOil COLOMBIA LatAmOil

It has touted modified contractual terms and industry over the coming years.
fewer bureaucratic obstacles in an attempt to Colombia is the fourth-largest crude pro-
woo investors and increase exploration activity. ducer in Latin America, with proven reserves of
Last year, Bogota awarded 31 new contracts nearly 2bn barrels of oil. Before the pandemic, it
to oil and gas companies. Frontera Energy, was producing around 880,000 barrels per day
GeoPark and state-owned Ecopetrol were and exporting around half of the total.
among the winners in auctions that took place Initially Colombia’s government was expect-
in June and December of 2019. ing oil production to rise to around 900,000 bpd
These contracts are anticipated to attract this year. Recently, though, it has cut its forecast
around $2.7bn worth of investment to the to around 750,000-850,000 bpd. ™

PERU
Indigenous leaders in Peru seek vote

restricting access to Amazon region

INDIGENOUS leaders in Peru have urged Indigenous leaders are keen to pass the bill
lawmakers to pass a new bill that would protect quickly before Peru emerges from the worst
large areas of the Amazon from development by phase of the pandemic and momentum is lost,
oil companies, but they fear strong opposition Reuters said. Nevertheless, Lesly Lazo, president
from the energy industry could hamper their of the Congressional justice commission, said
efforts. last week she did not think legislators needed
Peru’s Congress is considering whether to rush to pass the bill, the news agency added.
to fast-track a bill aimed at better protecting In January, the Peruvian judiciary requested
several indigenous territories near the border a ban on oil exploration and exploitation in an
with Ecuador and Brazil, according to a Reu- indigenous region of the Amazon, in an area
ters report. The legislation was drafted because where local tribes have laid claim to the land
of mounting concerns that the coronavirus and have long opposed the development of oil
(COVID-19) pandemic could wreak havoc on and gas fields. A judge subsequently ruled that
remote communities. the government would have to bar exploration
“Until now, high-risk extractive activities and development activities in the region, which
have been allowed in these territories,” Jorge is near Peru’s border with Brazil.
Pérez, president of the Regional Organization In 2011, Peru introduced the so-called prior
of Indigenous Peoples of the Amazon, told consultation law. That measure gave indigenous
Reuters. groups the right to have a say in official decisions
“This reform will guarantee the lives and that could affect the land where their commu-
human rights of the uncontacted peoples,” he nities live.
added. He estimated that there were around
7,000 people in Peru’s Amazon regions who
have very little or no interaction at all with the
outside world.
Meanwhile, oil industry representatives
fear that the bill could cause major disruption
to upstream operations. Felipe Cantuarias, the
president of the Peruvian Hydrocarbon Society,
an industry lobby group, warned that the bill
would throw exploration contracts into doubt.
“We are asking Congress to please debate the
issue and understand that this is not solved by
withdrawing private investment, because then
we all lose. The country loses. The regions lose,”
he told Reuters.
State-owned Perupetro and other upstream
operators have also warned lawmakers against
passing the bill. However, the legislation has
gained traction. Indigenous leaders met with
Peruvian President Martin Vizcarra to discuss
the measure earlier this month, and a vote in
Congress is expected to happen soon. Indigenous leaders hope to prevent spills and pollution (Photo: El Comercial)

P12 www. NEWSBASE .com Week 25 25•June•2020