Colombia and its state-run oil company, Ecopetrol, announced they have signed an offshore exploration and production deal for a nearly 400,000-hectare (988,000-acre) bloc in the Caribbean, the country's first new oil and gas contract in more than four years.
Qatar said it will quit OPEC to focus on gas in a swipe at Saudi Arabia, the de facto leader of the oil exporting group which is trying to show unity in tackling an oil price slide. Doha, one of OPEC’s smallest oil producers but the world’s biggest liquefied natural gas (LNG) exporter, is embroiled in a row with OPEC members Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
Chinese companies present a pattern of violations of human and environmental rights in Latin America, according to a report revealed by the International Federation of Human Rights (FIDH).
Argentina plans to launch a delayed offshore licensing round in October as it seeks to explore a large frontier region in the South Atlantic for potential oil and natural gas production growth in the future. This was announced to oil executives in Houston by Argentina's energy secretary Javier Iguacel.
France’s Total has been awarded an exploration licence for block 14 offshore Uruguay, following a second bid round staged by state-owned company ANCAP. Confirmation of the award is subject to further approval by Uruguayan authorities.
Argentine President Cristina Fernández is expected to make an announcement related to the Falklands/Malvinas Islands and most probably oil exploration on Tuesday afternoon, reports the Buenos Aires press.