PM Network - February 2015

2011 scandal involving the mayor of Bogotá, who was suspended and jailed for allegedly taking bribes to award public works contracts. “The government and the people are fighting corruption,” he says. “It’s getting better.”

FULLY ENERGIZED

As Colombia’s economy expands, so does its demand for energy.

“Right now, the country relies heavily on hydroelectric power, and there is
an increasing need to provide alternative sources due to the seasonal nature of
hydroelectric power,” Mr. Corbett explains. “There’s a rainy season and a dry
season. The country needs diversified power generation to support hydroelectric
power, especially during the dry season.”
With that in mind, the Colombian government is investing heavily in oil
and gas projects, including the Bicentennial Pipeline, a US$4.2 billion crude oil
pipeline that will be the country’s longest pipeline upon completion in 2016, and
a US$6.47 billion project to expand and modernize one of the country’s largest
oil refineries: the Reficar Refinery in Cartagena.

Exploration is as important as distribution. “Ecopetrol has set a goal to increase its oil and gas production significantly to 1. 3 million barrels of oil

“Oil and gas companies especially are very concerned about security.

They’re in constant contact with state military forces about where the guerrillas are and where they’re trying to strike. The state military forces inform companies which areas are safe to work in and which areas are not.”

—Diego Sánchez Brand, PMP, project manager, Piping Specialists International, Bogotá

“Most of our oil fields are in areas that people would not go to in the 1980s and 1990s because they were afraid they might be kidnapped or killed. It’s getting better, but there are still some security risks. To mitigate them, we do social outreach at the beginning of each project to get close to the community, to explain what we’re doing and to let them know we’re going to contract with local workers. The problems are not 100 percent corrected, but we’re working on it.”

—Rodrigo Vargas, PMP, construction and engineering manager, Conequipos Ing. Ltda., Medellín

“If you compare crime statistics
in Bogotá with other North and
South American cities, they’re
comparable. Colombia is a
reasonably secure country. If you
have projects in areas where there
are terrorist activities, you
work with local authorities
to identify risks and
make sure there are
good protection
plans in place. It’s
manageable. The
authorities are very
keen to work with
private companies
to help them deal
with security risks.”

—Gary Corbett, PMP, offshore projects leader, Ecopetrol, Bogotá

In the first half of 2014, there were 64 FARC attacks on Colombian oil
infrastructure, costing the industry US$460 million in repairs and lost
sales and profits, according to the Colombian Petrol Association. We
asked Colombian project practitioners: How do project managers in Colombia deal with security threats?