About

Colombia represents a significant market for Spain-headquartered CEPSA – having 11 exploration and production projects based in the Los Llanos Basin and Upper Magdalena River Valley areas of the country. César A. Lozano, based in Colombia, is legal manager for Latin America and heads a team of six that has seen its remit expand significantly in recent years. Two years ago, for instance, the team took on responsibility for Peru as well as Colombia, which is all the more impressive given the need to improve internal efficiency in response to recent chronically low global oil prices. Towards the goal of improving internal processes, Lozano describes how the team has ‘been working to establish KPIs in order to measure our performance’, which has allowed them to locate potential areas of improvement and opportunities for efficiency increases. Lozano is unequivocal about the impact the legal team has had on CEPSA Colombia’s fortunes: ‘The legal department has been a key player for the direction of the company in the making of important decisions. Also, the legal team works in order to keep up with normative changes, ensuring the company remains updated and implements policies such as prevention of money laundering, terrorism financing, bribery and personal data treatment’. Lozano believes that the team has had to do ‘more with less’ due to budget constraints relating to low oil prices, and he explains that the team has ‘overcome these situations by being creative, proactive and looking for the best scenario. We have learned that we need to be able to adapt to change with a positive attitude and pursue solutions instead of giving up in the face of obstacles’.