After a positive start to 2020 there is little evidence of a sustained recovery for the Andean country’s economically crucial oil industry. Significantly weaker oil prices, the COVID-19 pandemic and a deteriorating internal security environment are weighing on Colombia’s oil industry. Investment and drilling activity remain weak despite claims by the Colombian Petroleum Association (ACP – Spanish acronym) that the outlook is improving. In what could be considered a significant blow for Colombia’s beaten down oil industry international energy company Occidental Petroleum announced that it had exited onshore Colombia. The combination of sharply weaker petroleum prices, lower than anticipated production and the measures taken to limit the spread of COVID-19 have had a marked impact on Colombia’s oil dependent economy. Government statistics agency DANE announced that the Andean country’s economy contracted by 15.7% during the second quarter 2020. The unemployment rate remains extremely high, at 16.8% for August 2020, […]