On Tuesday, Colombian Finance Minister Mauricio Cárdenas
emphatically rejected
the possibility that Colombia would lower its oil production, in light of the Organization
of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) announcing that the burden will be on
non-OPEC countries to cut oil production if prices are to rise again.
Minister Cárdenas told reporters in London, “If they're
counting on non-OPEC producers to cut production to adjust the oil market and
to supply, that's not going to happen in Colombia. We're making every effort to
keep production at 1 million bpd (barrels per day).” The Finance Minister added
that Colombia is basing its budget projections on oil prices of $60 bpd for
2015 and $64 bpd in 2016.
In its ongoing reporting on the Colombian oil crisis, the BBC
reported on the rise and fall of the oil boomtown, Puerto Gaitán. During the
times of high oil prices, thousands of Colombians were drawn to the town by the
promise of high salaries. Since 2014, however, between ten and fifteen thousand
people and 75 businesses have left Puerto Gaitán. The town has now been forced
to adjust to a new reality of lower salaries and a smaller municipal budget.
Some residents, however, are frustrated by what they feel was wasteful spending
during the good years.
In other related-news, leading Colombian weekly Semana
published a report on Colombian state-owned oil company Ecopetrol’s hopes for
exploiting hydrocarbons in the Caribbean. According to Semana, Ecopetrol’s only
hope for a new large hydrocarbons discovery in Colombia is the Caribbean. Oil
companies have given up trying to find a new large onshore field, and it will
take years to develop fracking’s potential.
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