Colombia Defines Future Policy for the Oil Industry

Jorge Posada of Parra, Rodriguez, Cavelier outlines now government objectives for the oil industry.

The National Development Plan (Plan Nacional de Desarrollo) has set exploration and production of oil as one of the country's main objectives in the near future. The goal to be achieved is to avoid Colombia having to become an importer of crude, something that will happen if exploration activities are not intensified and current extraction activities are not maximized. The plan contemplates various possibilities as means to this end:

1. Downstream activities are to receive incentives so that private sector participation in storage and transport of crude is possible, refining activities and private participation in the petrochemical industry are also goals of private downstream participation;