Colombian fracking edges closer to reality

Mindful of the country's energy security, the government is looking towards its shale assets

Colombian president Ivan Duque is no stranger to controversy. His attempts to alter a landmark war crimes tribunal this year, the special jurisdiction for peace (JEP), were sizeably defeated in the House of Representatives, only for cross-party disputes to return the veto back to the Constitutional Court. Now he aims to resurrect an equally contentious issue: fracking. Colombia has mooted fracking for several years. In 2014, the government offered up several shale blocks for auction, but no licenses were approved. This year, two shale pilot projects were shelved by licensing authority Anla after operators US independent ConocoPhilips (80pc stake) and Canada's Canacol (20pc stake) failed to m