Over the weekend, Colombian daily newspaper El
Espectador ran an analysis piece on a little-discussed part of the
Colombian oil crisis. The article began by describing the general state of “uneasiness”
that Juan Carlos Echeverry, President of Colombian state oil company Ecopetrol,
says permeates the oil industry. The Colombian oil sector has managed to reach
its savings, investment, and cost-cutting goals, but the volatility in oil
prices, but it hasn’t been enough.
The sector is facing a perfect storm of problems: the oil
boom in the U.S., the Chinese economic slowdown, and OPEC’s stubborn
unwillingness to lower its production quotas. Added to those international
problems beyond Colombia’s control are persistent blockages and protests that
prevented the extraction of 11 million barrels of oil, or 3% of Colombia’s
overall oil production. According to El Espectador, at the root of this
internal strife is questioning over the role of the committees for communal
action.
El Espectador reported that the leaders of some of the
committees were using their power and influence to extort local oil sector
contractors for financial gain. Labor union leaders in Colombia are now putting
pressure on Ecopetrol to change its hiring practices to end this exploitative
and controversial contracting model.
In other oil-related news, late last week, Colombia,
Argentina, Mexico, and Venezuela created
an international oil sector trade union to share experiences and lessons
learned to strengthen the region’s oil industry.
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