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In its ruling, it stressed that its primary mission State-owned PetroEcuador has already built
was to adjudicate violations of constitutional bypasses that allow two of the affected pipelines
rights. – the Trans-Ecuadorian Oil Pipeline System
Lina Maria Espinosa, the plaintiffs’ attorney, (SOTE), which can handle up to 360,000 bar-
described the court’s ruling as “unacceptable.” rels per day (bpd) of crude oil, and the Shush-
She also told Reuters that her clients intended to ufindi-Quito petroleum product pipeline – to
appeal against the decision, as they believed that circumvent the affected areas.
the government’s willingness to allow for the Likewise, privately owned Heavy Crude
development and sale of oil and gas resources Pipeline (OCP), the operator of a system with a
was “destroying people’s lives and the Amazon capacity of 173,086 bpd, has also built a bypass
rainforest.” line. ™

COLOMBIA
Fracking legislation stalls in Colombia

NEW legislation that would provide tax He added: “There is a legitimate expectation
breaks for unconventional oil and gas drilling to make an investment with those royalties.
in Colombia has stalled in Congress, despite For all unconventional reservoir projects in the
the government’s much-anticipated plans for future, in the event they are given viability, first
kick-starting the sector. these pilots must be carried out and evaluated.”
The stall appears to stem from a disagree- Colombia’s national hydrocarbons regulator,
ment between the two chambers of Congress. known as ANH, said previously that it planned
Members of the Senate, the upper chamber of to launch fracking pilots this year. It made this
Congress, voted in a plenary session last week announcement after the country’s top admin-
44-39 to remove Article 10, an amendment to istrative tribunal, the Council of State, lifted a
a royalties bill. The amendment, which had moratorium on unconventional drilling.
already been approved by the Chamber of Rep- Meanwhile, the Energy Ministry is in the
resentatives, would reduce the fiscal burden on midst of drawing up a regulatory framework
companies that use hydraulic fracturing (frack- for the initial fracking projects. The first pilot
ing) techniques by 40%. contracts are due to be awarded within the next
Colombian Energy Minister Diego Mesa couple of months, energy officials have told local
responded to this development by saying he press.
was still hopeful that the two chambers of the Meanwhile, the Council of State has agreed
legislature could reach an amicable agreement. to hear a lawsuit that claims the pilot schemes
“We have said that with this Article 210 we are unconstitutional. Local opponents of
are going to preserve the acquired rights of fracking argue that the practice is bad for the
those who have contracts ... including the pilot environment.
projects that are beginning to be carried out,” Energy experts, by contrast, say that the
Mesa said, according to local weekly magazine introduction of fracking could triple oil and gas
Semana. reserves in Colombia.

Payara will be Stabroek’s third development area (Image: Eco-Atlantic Oil & Gas)

P14 www. NEWSBASE .com Week 35 03•September•2020