Outlook Bleak for National Participation in Colombia's Oil Industry
Colombia, long dependent on coffee for a large percentage of its export earnings, has suffered recently because of the fluctuations of the world coffee market. The country has a cronic problem...
...Thus, the issue of a comletely foreign-omed refinery is a delicate subject...
...A $50 million oil pipeline is to be built across the Colombian Andes, which, at $25,000 per mile will be the most extensive one constructed, in terms of cost per mile...
...To protect their interests the cor.anies obtained permission to exploit the area, which covers more than 4 million acres of concessions in Color.bia and 5.2 million acres of concessions in Ecuador, for five years...
...investment in Colorbia, which totals r(,500 million, has been in the petroleum industry...
...west coast...
...Judging by the current situation, it looks as if the U.S...
...In a recent article in E1 Tiempo (Bogota), Carlos Gustavo Arrieta, the iinister of Mines and Petroleum, states: "Colombia is one of the oil-troducing nations in the :world with the most ample and benevolent legislation which encourages exploitation by foreign firms...
...Even so, one half of all U.S...
...Up until now, the Colombian government petroleum com anr, SCOTROL, has been running the country's largest refinery for crude nroduction and is seeking to gain more control over this end of the industry...
...oil companies are managing to pull the right strings to allow them a refinery for major development of the Putumayo field without ECOE.ITRCL participation...
...Plans are to pipe crude oil from the Colombian and Ecuadorian concessions to Tumaco, a nort on the Pacific coast where it will then go by supertan]er to the U.S...
...Recently an extremely important newi oil field was discovered by Texaco and Gulf in the Putumayo area of southern Colombia, bordering Ecuador...
...Until recently Colo:bia has ranked as second-rate in the production of oil on a world-wide basis...
...The country has a cronic problem with an unfavorable balance of payments and relies consistently on financial aid in the form of loans from various international and United States agencies...
...Obviously, export earnings from oil, far superior to those from coffee, would solve many of its problems...
...Plans also include the construction of a new, $40illion 100% Texaco-omed refinery rith a daily capacity of 25,000 b/d to be ready by early 1969...
Vol. 1 • April 1967 • No. 3
