LAW 1274 OF 2009

(January 5)

Official Journal No. 47,223 of 5 January 2009

CONGRESS OF THE REPUBLIC

By which the avaluo procedure is established for oil easements.

COLOMBIA CONGRESS

DECRETA:

ARTICLE 1o. EASEMENTS IN THE HYDROCARBON INDUSTRY. The hydrocarbon industry is declared of public utility in its branches of exploration, production, transportation, refining and distribution. The premises shall bear all legal easements which are necessary to carry out the activities of exploration, production and transport of the hydrocarbons, except for the exceptions established by law.

It is understood that the easement of occupation of land will comprise the right to build the necessary infrastructure in the field and to install all the works and services own for the benefit of the resource of the hydrocarbons and the exercise of the other easements that are required.

ARTICLE 2o. DIRECT NEGOTIATION. For the exercise of the hydrocarbon easements the person concerned must advance the following procedure:

1. The person concerned shall give formal notice to the owner, holder or occupant of the land or to the owner of the improvements, as the case may be.

2. The notice must be made by writing and stating:

a) The need to occupy permanent or transiently predium.

b) The required extension determined by linderlines.

c) The occupancy time.

d) The document that accredits it as an explorer, exploiter, or hydrocarbon transporter.

e) Invitation to agree the amount of compensation for the damages that will be caused by the works.

3. The notice shall be understood with its material delivery and with the referral of a copy thereof to the representatives of the Public Ministry with competence in the constituency where the property is located.

4. Executed the notice shall indicate the stage of direct negotiation between the parties, which shall not exceed twenty (20) calendar days, counted from the delivery of the notice.

5. In the event of failure to reach an agreement on the amount of damages, a record shall be drawn up in which the reasons for the failed negotiation and the maximum value offered, signed by the parties, are obtained with copies to each of them.

If the proposer, holder or holder refrains from signing the act referred to within the period indicated for the direct negotiation, the person concerned will go to the representative of the Public Ministry or who will make his/her times of the property district, so that within three (3) business days of following, you are aware of such a situation.

PARAGRAFO. The same treatment will be given to people who occupy or own vacant lands.

ARTICLE 3o. REQUEST FOR DAMAGES. exhausted the stage of direct negotiation without agreement on the value of the compensation to be paid for the exercise of the easements or without it being possible to give the formal notice to the owner, holder or occupant of the land or the owner of the improvements, at least two (2) times during the twenty (20) days prior to the request for damages, the interested party will present before the Municipal Civil Judge of the jurisdiction where the building is located, the request for the damage caused by the property, activities or activities to be carried out in the exercise of the hydrocarbon easements, which shall contain the following requirements:

1. Name and proof of existence and representation of the data subject.

2. Copy of the title or document containing the rights to explore, exploit or transport hydrocarbons of the data subject.

3. Location of the building or property object of the hydrocarbon easements and the identification of the area to occupy permanent or transiently with the works of exploration, exploitation and transport of the hydrocarbons, its borders and the extension of same.

4. Identification and description of the buildings, fences, crops, plantations, pastures and improvements that are affected by the occupation and the exercise of the hydrocarbon easements.

5. Constancy of the delivery of the notice or proof of the impossibility of delivery.

6. Description of the activities to be carried out in the areas to be occupied.

7. Identification of the owner or occupant of the land or the improvements and place where the application can be notified.

8. Receipt of consignment at the order of the Court of the sum corresponding to the value of the commercial value made by the Instituto Agustín Codazzi or by a professional attached to an agremiation of lonja of the jurisdiction of the property duly recognized, as a judicial deposit in favor of the owner, holder or occupant of the land or of the improvements for the damages to be caused by the occupation and exercise of the easements.

9. Copy of the failed negotiation record.

ARTICLE 4. COMPETENT AUTHORITY TO KNOW THE REQUEST FOR AN ENDORSEMENT. The competent authority to know of the requests for guarantees for the purposes of the hydrocarbon easements any person, natural or legal, national or foreign and the Joint-economy companies shall be the Municipal Civil Judge of the jurisdiction in which the property is located which shall be the subject of the easement.

ARTICLE 5o. PROCESSING OF THE APPLICATION. The application for the endorsement will be given the following procedure:

1. When the application for an endorsement is filed, the Judge shall admit it within three (3) days of the following and in the same order he shall order the transfer to the owner or occupant of the land or to the improvements for the term of three (3) days.

2. If two (2) days after the car ordering the transfer of the application has not been notified personally, they shall be placed in the manner indicated in paragraph 2 of the article 452 of the Civil Procedure Code.

3. In the present procedure, no exceptions of any kind are admissible, but in the final decision of the guarantor, the Judge will act on his own initiative on the circumstances referred to in the numerals of the article href="civil_procedure_code pr003.html#97"> 97 of the Civil Procedure Code, and if you find any, it will express it and refrain from resolving.

4. The value of the compensation shall be indicated by an expert appointed by the Judge on the list of auxiliaries of justice, whose fees shall be borne by the applicant, who shall be appointed in the self-order of the application for the aid and shall be must be posesionate within three (3) days of the following.

5. The expert shall give the expert opinion within fifteen (15) working days from the date of the possession. For the purposes of the expert, the expert shall take into account the objective conditions of affectation that may be presented according to the impact that the easement generates on the property, taking into account the compensation integral of all the damages and damages, without prejudice to any subsequent complaints which may be made by the owner, holder or occupant of the premises affected by damage caused to them during the exercise of the easements. The characteristics and possible yields of the oil project, the potential abundance or wealth of the subsoil, as well as the economic capacity of the contractor or operator, will not be taken into account. Partial occupation of the property shall result in the recognition and payment of compensation in proportion to the use of the affected party, unless such occupation affects the value and use of the unaffected areas.

6. After giving the expert opinion, the judge shall authorize the occupation and the provisional exercise of the hydrocarbon easements. Notwithstanding the foregoing, if the person concerned requests the provisional surrender of the required area for the work before the expert opinion is rendered, the judge shall authorize the occupation and the exercise of the oil-for-gas easements within the fifteen (15) working days following the date of application, provided that a copy of the judicial deposit corresponding to an additional 20% of the deposit made at the time of the request for prejudice to which the application relates is accompanied Article 3 (8) of this Law.

7. The procedure laid down in Article 238 of the Code of Civil Procedure shall apply in relation to the contradiction of the opinion.

8. Given the opinion and dealt with the respective objections, the Judge will have to resolve definitively on the subject of the request within ten (10) days.

9. Either party may ask before the Civil Judge of the Circuit of the jurisdiction to which he belongs the object of the due diligence, the review of the same within the term of one (1) month counted from the date of the decision of the Municipal Civil Judge. If the person making use of the resource is the explorer, exploiter or transporter of hydrocarbons, the latter must, as a judicial deposit, enter the order of the Civil Circuit Judge of the respective Circuit the amount settled by the Municipal Civil Judge if the sum entered for the submission of the application is less than 50% (50%) of the damage referred to by the Judge.

10. The review of the endorsement will be processed in accordance with the provisions of the abbreviated procedure enshrined in Articles 408 to 414 of the Code of Civil Procedure.

11. Neither the interposition of the review nor its processing prevent or interrupt the exercise of the respective occupation or servitude of hydrocarbons.

12. The revision of the Circuit Judge shall order the delivery of the monies consigned to the owner, holder or occupant of the land or of the improvements and if they are not sufficient, it shall order the interested explorer, operator or transporter to, within ten (10) days of the following entry of sufficient quantity to cover the compensation. If a remnant is found, it shall be returned to the beneficiary of the servitude within the same term. If the person concerned does not do so, the Judge shall request the Mayor to take immediate action to suspend the work which is the subject of the occupation and the exercise of the oil-for-oil services.

PARAGRAFO. For cases of easements whose procedure of the present law is in progress to the date of enactment of this law, the person concerned shall be subject to the procedure indicated herein, within the sixty (60) days following the entry into force of the same.

ARTICLE 6o. PERMANENT OCCUPATION AND TRANSIENT OCCUPATION. In the case of works or tasks involving permanent occupation, the compensation shall be caused and paid for one time and shall be paid for as long as the explorer, operator or Hydrocarbon transporter will occupy the land and will understand all the damage.

It is understood by works of a permanent nature the construction of roads, the construction of pipelines, the camps, the installation of drilling equipment, the necessary facilities for the operation and control of the activity in the field, the installation of flow lines and other such lines.

In the case of works or tasks involving temporary occupation, the compensation shall cover periods of up to six (6) months.

It is understood by occupation of a transitory nature the execution of works of superficial exploration with geophysical devices, drawn from pipelines, roads, etc., that involve destruction of fences, opening of trochas or trails of penetration, surface excavations and other similar.

ARTICLE 7o. REGISTER. The agreement between the parties that will be raised to public deed or, failing that, the court decision must be registered with the Office of Public Instruments of the place of location of the land that is the object of the due diligence, calling it the respective Registrar as the establishment of a legal serfdom of hydrocarbons.

ARTICLE 8o. EASEMENTS OF EASEMENTS. The easements of occupation of land may also be established on pregod occupied by other rightholders for the exploitation of non-renewable natural resources, provided that with their exercise no the rights of these are interfered with.

In the event that the industrialists involved will not reach any agreement to carry out the concurrent activities, the Ministry of Mines and Energy will set the technical parameters that will allow the execution of some and others, taking into account the technical programmes approved, which shall be compulsory for the parties, without prejudice to the compensation to be paid to the parties.

ARTICLE 9o. The provisions contained in this law do not replace the procedure of prior consultation, where appropriate, as provided for in Law 21 of 1991.

ARTICLE 10. VALIDITY AND REPEAL. This law governs from its publication and repeals Articles 93, 94 and 95 of Legislative Decree 1056 of 1953; Articles 1o to 9o of Decree 1886 of 1954 and other rules that are contrary to it.

The President of the honorable Senate of the Republic,

HERNAN ANDRADE SERRANO.

The Secretary General of the honorable Senate of the Republic,

EMILIO RAMON OTERO DAJUD.

The President of the honorable House of Representatives,

GERMAN MALE COTRINO.

The Secretary General of the honorable House of Representatives,

JESUS ALFONSO RODRIGUEZ CAMARGO.

COLOMBIA-NATIONAL GOVERNMENT

Publish and comply.

Dada en Bogotá, D. C., a 5 de enero de 2009.

ALVARO URIBE VELEZ

The Minister of Mines and Energy,

HERNAN MARTINEZ TORRES.