Ecopetrol CEO confirms fracking to begin in Colombia in 2020

RCN reports, “The president of Ecopetrol, Felipe Bayón, told RCN News that the company has in its schedule of operations the date of the second half of 2020 to drill the first wells of the pilot programs with the exploration system known as fracking.”

Ecopetrol is Colombia’s largest firm and is an integrated oil company that is among the 50 largest in the world and the four largest in Latin America.

Environmentalists have called for a global ban on fracking given it “torpedoes our global efforts to tackle climate change and violates basic human rights.” Moreover, a researcher with the Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment has highlighted concerns that fracking could endanger the fragile peace process in Colombia.

Speaking tour in Canada

Julia Figueroa and Andrea Nocove from the Luis Carlos Perez Lawyers’ Collective (CCALCP) in Bucaramanga and Ivan Madero from the Regional Corporation for the Defence of Human Rights (CREDHOS) in Barrancabermeja will be visiting Canada this November to help shed more light on this situation.

They will highlight their concerns about fracking and extractivism, as well as the need to protect the climate and water, and respect Indigenous rights.

Their public forums include:

OTTAWA – Monday November 4, 6:30 pm, Amnesty International House, 312 Laurier Avenue East

VANCOUVER – Wednesday November 6, 7 pm, SFU Morris J Wosk Centre for Dialogue, 580 West Hastings Street

NANAIMO – Friday November 8, 2 pm, Building 200-Student Affairs/Room 203 (Lecture Hall), Vancouver Island University-Nanaimo Campus

Along with these three public forums, Julia, Andrea and Ivan will be meeting with civil society allies in Toronto, government officials in Ottawa, as well as students, lawyers and activists at information/strategy meetings across the country.

For more information, please contact us at info@pbicanada.org