New era of the oil Exploration and Production: Offshore. is Colombia Ready?
| Autor | Paula Morales |
| Páginas | 73-120 |
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new era of the oil exploration and production:
offshore. is colombia ready?
paula moraleS*
aBStract
The development of exploration and production of oil in
the sea has increased around the world. There are different
areas regarding the exploration and exploitation on the sea.
Countries such as Norway have most of its exploration and
exploitation offshore. As consequent it has a perfect well
structured authorities. While Countries such as Brazil and
Colombia have less experience in offshore exploration and
exploitation in the sea and they have many authorities in
charge and between them they function overlap. Which
one is the best model? Should Colombia change its model?
A major problem in Colombia has been its borders. Even
international regulation has delimited the areas in the sea.
Colombia each year face international legal actions regarding
* The author is currently completing a llm in Natural Resources Law and
Policy at the Centre for Energy, Petroleum, Mineral Law and Policy (cemlp),
University of Dundee, UK. The author is a lawyer from Pontificia Univerdiad
Javeriana, Bogotá, Colombian and she has a specialization in Mining and
Petroleum at Universidad Externado de Colombia. I certify that this article
is part of the dissertation as requirement to graduate from the llm in Natural
Resources Law and Policy at the Centre for Energy, Petroleum, Mineral Law
and Policy (cemlp), University of Dundee, UK.
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its territory. In a contractual stage it is important to dif-
ferentiate between exploration and exploitation onshore
and offshore. Evermore, to give security to the investors
the offshore petroleum contract between the company and
the state should provide with provision such stabilization
clauses. Colombia each year changes its fiscal regime to
increase taxes as a measure to provide with money to the
government. Finally, in an international context there is
a well-known regulation about environment, safety and
security. However, Colombia is far from adopting these
regulations. Is Colombia waiting for a major disaster to
take actions or is better to prevent? This dissertation would
analyse what experiences in an international context and its
possibly application to Colombia regarding the organiza-
tion of government authorities, petroleum agreement and
environmental regulations.
INtroductIoN
Currently, Colombia is in an initial stage regarding offshore
oil activities. Most of the areas are in the exploration stage
and some drillings have been done. However, the authori-
ties have not provided a clear framework regarding the
exploration and exploitation on the sea. The purpose of this
dissertation is to suggest some areas where the state should
improve to provide a better perspective for the investment
in Colombia. This dissertation is divided into four parts. In
the first part a discussion regarding the several authorities
in Colombia in charge of the procedures of offshore activ-
ity will provide an overview of the problem regarding the
overlapping function among them. Moreover, between the
authorities there is no communication making the process
for acquiring licence more difficult. For instance in the
last bidding for oil areas in Colombia in 2014 the National
Agency of Hydrocarbon offered areas with environmental
restriction by the National Environmental Authority.
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In the second part there is an analysis of the territorial
sea. In the last few years Colombia has faced several legal
actions in international Courts regarding the territorial
areas on the sea. In 2001 Nicaragua requested the Interna-
tional Court of Justice to determine the maritime bound-
ary “between the continental shelf area and the exclusive
economic zone appertaining respectively to Nicaragua
and Colombia”1. In 2012 the International Court of Justice
recognised the maritime territory of Nicaragua and as a
consequence Colombia lost 46% of their maritime territory.
After the dispute Colombia denounced the Pact of Bogota
from April 30 1948, which recognized the jurisdiction of
the International Court of Justice with the intention to roll
back the decision of the Court and do not lose its territory.
The economic importance of these areas includes its fishing
and oil resources. This is a clear example of the problems
in Colombia regarding the maritime borders due to the old
and inaccurate treaties.
In the third part there is a description of the provi-
sions that the offshore contract should have. Currently in
Colombia the petroleum contract between the host state
and the investor for exploration and production in the sea
is the same contract for exploration and exploitation on
land. However, the technique and equipment use for the
exploration and production on the sea is different than in
land. The former involves mega infrastructures and risk
of major accidents. Moreover, the oil activity in the sea
involves high amount of capital and investment. Investors
look for security of the investment in the contract. Lastly,
in developing countries fiscal regulation change regularly
directly affecting investment.
Finally, the last part would provide an overview of the
international law related to the issue of environmental
1 2012/33 Icj.
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