Colombian Chamber denied motion of censure against the Minister of Mines and Energy, Irene Vélez

Colombia’s House of Representatives denied on Tuesday the motion of censure against the Minister of Mines and Energy, Irene Vélez Torres, cited by the opposition in light of the alleged impacts generated by certain statements by the official.

Among the statements that generated controversy, those related to the economic decline and the alleged delays in the final decision of the Government regarding the future of oil exploration contracts stand out.

The motion of no confidence was denied with 132 votes in favor, reported the Ministry of Mines and Energy.

The future of oil has been among the main topics of debate in the country after the victory of the leftist Gustavo Petro in the presidential elections.

The president said on the campaign trail that he intended to curb oil and gas exploration, but over time he has moderated his discourse.

In recent months, the concept of economic decline, a theory that advocates consumption and production that prioritizes environmental sustainability, opened the debate in Colombia after the country’s Minister of Mines and Energy, Irene Vélez, invited the world economies to apply it in the fight against climate change.

After this situation was presented within the framework of the Congress of the Colombian Mining Association (ACM), the minister explained that degrowth is a concept that refers to the relationships between “places that are intensive in consumption and places that they are intensive in extracting the goods and services that provide that consumption”.

“In other words, in Colombia we have nowhere to decrease, on the contrary, what we have to do is close the gaps. Decreasing is talked about in those economies that are developed and that continue on a high economic growth curve that is necessarily done at the expense of other countries and other geographies from where wealth is extracted, to put it that way,” said Vélez.

The National Hydrocarbons Agency (ANH) reported that the controlled oil production last September was 753,584 average barrels per day (bopd), 0.57% more than that registered in August when it reached 749,299 average barrels per day.

Meanwhile, the ANH reported that the average production of commercialized gas during September was 1,097.54 million cubic feet per day (mcfd), which represented an increase of 0.93% compared to August, when it reached 1,087. 29 (mcfd).

With information from Bloomberg Línea