The ANH published the terms for fracking pilots in Colombia

Through the Special Contract for Research Projects (CEPI), the ANH regulated the development of pilots of the hydraulic fracturing technique that “will allow the State to have sufficient information to make decisions on public policy regarding fracking,” reported the entity.

Through the Definitive Terms of Reference of the Contractor Selection Process for the Comprehensive Research Pilot Projects (PPII), the ANH establishes the conditions for the assignment of areas and defines the “contractual instrument” for the monitoring and administration of the pilots. .

“The ANH will objectively select the projects most favorable to the interests of the Nation, from which sufficient and objective information will be obtained to make public policy decisions, based on scientific evidence, in light of the implications of the Fracturing technique. Hydraulic ”, said the president of the ANH, Armando Zamora Reyes.

The awarding of the projects and the conclusion of the contracts for these pilots will be as of November 23, 2020, which would establish a substitution of the environmental license processes to be able to develop the pilots in the country.

All the information obtained from the development of the pilots will be public, with the intention of making the processes participatory and transparent activities. Consequently, the ANH and the contractor will be required to participate in “territorial dialogues with the communities” as well as with the local authorities where these projects are developed.

In turn, through a complementary and participatory institutional scheme, the progress of the pilots will be duly monitored under rigorous conditions of control, surveillance and monitoring.

“The projected investments to develop the four pilots are estimated at up to 400 million dollars, which could contribute in an early way to the sustainable reactivation that the country so badly needs,” added Zamora.

Fracking in Colombia

By December 2019, a court in the country ordered the international hydrocarbon company Drummond to suspend methane gas production activities with fracking in 15 wells in one of its coal mines in the north of the country. This is because there is still no regulation authorizing the exploitation of hydrocarbons with this technique.

The State Council ruling, applauded by environmentalists, forced Drummond to paralyze gas production activities in the wells located in the La Loma field, in the Cesar department, and prohibited any activity in another 42 wells.

The court upheld a precautionary measure in September that suspended the use of fracking for the exploration of hydrocarbons in unconventional fields, but clarified that the decision does not prevent pilot research projects, although the production phase is still prohibited.