During his speech to open the sessions of the Congress of the Republic, the President Gustavo Petro He again referred to a topic that has caused considerable controversy in the country: the signing of new oil contracts.
But, in addition to referring to the issue, he attacked the companies and the exploration activities they carry out in the country. He said that the contracts that have been awarded “They are gifts from rulers to their political accomplices”.
(Also read: Colombia reactivates the drilling of wells in the Caribbean Sea to search for more natural gas)
The president told the full Congress that demand for oil and coal will fall permanently in the coming yearsEven this year there have already been reductions in the figures.
Demand for oil and coal will fall permanently in the coming years
“AND It’s not at Petro’s whim As some opposition media outlets point out, it is because of the reality of the world, it is not Petro, it is the world”, he said.
Likewise, he highlighted that last year, for the first time, investment in clean energy was higher than that of fossil fuels and that investment in oil fell to half of what it was in 2013 worldwide.
“If we continue like the ostrich, thinking that nothing is happening in the world and that the more exploration contracts are made, the more we guarantee economic stability, we are absurdly wrong“, assured the president.
(Also read: “It’s not that Ecopetrol has been very good looking for oil”: President Ricardo Roa)
Furthermore, he said that “the exploration contracts in Colombia have been used to speculate, they have given it to the political friendfamily friend to sell it and resell it and resell it again and there isn’t even a square meter of exploration.”
Exploration contracts in Colombia have been used to speculate
Due to the expected drop in oil production, Petro assured that, even if the contracts that are already signed and in the hands of the companies become effective, the world will not buy more oil. “We are trying to get exploration done, not have papers to resell,” she added.
He also stated that, gradually, the demand for oil, “especially that of the heavy oil that Colombia produces,” and the demand for coal, are going to fall.
Against this background, the president assured that the way forward is not for the world to keep buying oil and coal “and then humanity dies”, but rather how to replace this industry and “how we take the last residues, cunchos and royalties” must be sought to move towards another model of economic development.
(Also read: Negative effects of stopping oil exploration in Colombia)
President Gustavo Petro at the installation of Congress 2023
Nestor Gomez. TIME
To extract from the earth does not need much work or much knowledge
This model, he states, must be based on production and not on extractivist activities. “To get out of the earth you don’t need a lot of work or a lot of knowledge, to produce it takes a lot of work and a lot of knowledge. The productive world generates work, therefore, it generates wealth”, he added.
In this order of ideas, Petro reiterated that one of the main objectives of his Government is reactivate agriculture, industry and tourism to begin to replace what the world will stop buying from Colombia in oil and coal.
He says that 287,000 million have been invested to strengthen tourism and the figures are good, since foreign tourism -which is the one that will replace oil currencies- has been growing year after year after the covid-19 pandemic.
But, the goal is to increase the arrival of foreign tourists, going from five million currently to seven million, which would be equivalent to 7,000 million dollars in foreign currency and would replace a large percentage of what oil contributes today.
