Authorities in the capital of Colombia began rationing water on Thursday as local reservoirs were reported to be nearing alarming levels due to the El Niño phenomenon coupled with the aftermaths of global warming. It has not been ruled out that the severe drought might result as well in an energy crisis hitting some 10 million people who live in Bogotá and the surrounding areas.
Brazil's state-owned oil company Petrobras said Wednesday it had discovered a new reservoir in the ultra-deep waters of the Potiguar Basin, in the Anhangá exploratory well, located between the states of Amapá and Rio Grande do Norte.
Venezuelan authorities Tuesday arrested former Oil Minister Tareck El Aissami in a corruption probe after about one year at large following his resignation. When making the announcement, Attorney General Tarek William Saab said the former official intended to dent the country's economy.
Tech giants Google plan to link Chile with Australia and French Polynesia through the Humboldt cable, which would become first direct submarine link between South America and Oceania, thus expanding the digital infrastructure of the South Pacific.
Bolivian President Luis Arce Catacora announced that his country's first biodiesel production plant will start operating next week in Santa Cruz de la Sierra. Although some experts have doubted the project's worth, the Government said that the new undertaking would generate up to US$ 100 million in savings on fossil fuel imports. Supreme Decree 5135 authorizes the addition of up to 25% of vegetable components to conventional fuels.
Israel reported that natural gas exports from the Leviathan field to Egypt increased by 28% last year. Exports jumped from 4.9 billion cubic meters (BCM) in 2022 to 6.3 BCM in 2023.
The French company Thales will be opening a 100% solar energy-powered air traffic control (ATC) station in Chile, it was announced in Santiago. The facility will be in the city of Calama in the Atacama Desert in the northern part of the country, it was also explained. The radars consume about one megawatt per hour.
The Court of Justice in Catamarca (Northern Argentina) has issued a divided ruling ordering a suspension of mining activity in the Salar del Hombre Muerto, impacting lithium production projects. The decision stems from an environmental protection action filed by cacique Román Elías Guitian, urging a comprehensive environmental impact study before new permits are granted.
The United States in 2023, for the sixth year running has been the world's main crude oil producer produced more crude oil than any other country in 2023, with an average output of 12.9 million bpd, according to the Energy Information Administration (EIA).
Bolivian President Luis Arce Catacora said Friday in Kingstown (St. Vincent and the Grenadines), said that strengthening the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (Celac) and every regional integration space was the only alternative to war to fend off any foreign interference seeking the return to the “already outlawed” colonial order. He made those remarks during his speech at the 8th Celac Summit.