Category: Colombia

Exploration drilling in Colombia’s oil patch in the first quarter fell 82.5% compared with the year-ago period, while seismic exploration sank by an even steeper 92%, the Colombian Petroleum Association (ACP) said Tuesday. Speaking at a press conference in Bogota, ACP president Francisco Jose Lloreda issued another in a series of recent appeals to the government to enhance the royalty and tax incentives available to wildcatters or face the possibility of declining production and reserves in coming years. "Without tax incentives, it will not be feasible to reactivate exploration and current production levels of 1 million b/d, which would impact state revenue even more," Lloreda told reporters. He said only nine exploratory wells were drilled in Q1, down from 52 drilled in the year-ago period. Seismic exploration totaled 800 square kilometers, down from 10,000 sq km. Lloreda acknowledged that the Colombian government had made some moves in recent months […]

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Colombia is preparing measures to help oil producers including Ecopetrol SA and Pacific Rubiales Energy Corp. (PRE) cope with the crash in global prices as the Andean nation looks to protect its biggest source of revenue. Options include easing investment costs and reducing the amount of oil that goes to the government as a royalty, said Nicolas Mejia, vice president for promotion at Colombia’s hydrocarbons agency. Proposals put forward by several consultancies will be discussed at a Jan. 27 meeting with government ministers. West Texas Intermediate, a U.S. benchmark oil price, fell 46 percent last year. Oil accounts for about half of Colombia’s exports and is a key revenue generator for the government. The nation’s oil production averaged 988,100 barrels a day in 2014, the first drop in output since 2005 amid community protests and pipeline attacks. “Companies are calling for more favorable terms,” Mejia said in an interview […]

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"We are gaining access to a vast underexplored frontier area through early access at scale, which is in line with Statoil’s exploration strategy," Nick Maden, a senior vice president for Statoil’s exploration activities in the Western Hemisphere, said in a statement. Statoil, for an undisclosed sum, acquired a minority share in two offshore areas in Colombia from Repsol. Statoil in July made its debut in Colombia in a deal with Repsol and the Colombian subsidiary of Exxon Mobil. Much of the country’s oil is focused inland in the foothills of the Andes and in the Amazonian jungle. Colombia holds an estimated 2.4 billion barrels of crude oil reserves, though offshore is considered frontier territory. While no reserve potential was available, Repsol has already conducted seismic surveys offshore to get a better understanding of the license area.

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Colombian crude production sank to a 20-month low in April as Marxist rebel attacks and community protests curbed output amid continuing peace talks in Havana . Oil production last month averaged 935,000 barrels per day, according to a government statement yesterday, the lowest since August 2012. Output slumped as repairs to the country’s second-largest pipeline following a March 25 rebel attack were prevented by the indigenous U’wa group. Paralysis at the Cano Limon-Covenas duct, which takes oil from eastern Colombia to the Caribbean coast, forced producers including state-controlled Ecopetrol SA (ECOPETL) to restrict output as storage ran out. Oil is Colombia’s biggest export and a key source of revenue for the government. There were 33 pipeline attacks in the first quarter of this year and a total of 259 in 2013, as Colombia’s largest rebel group, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, seeks to strengthen its hand […]

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A monthlong standoff with a forest-dwelling indigenous group is threatening Colombian oil exports and may force the government to declare a national emergency, Mines and Energy Minister Amylkar Acosta said. Members of Colombia ’s U’wa group are preventing repairs to the Cano Limon-Covenas pipeline following an attack by Marxist rebels March 25, cutting exports by more than 2.5 million barrels, Acosta said. The country’s second biggest pipeline is controlled by state-run Ecopetrol SA. “This almost merits a declaration of emergency by the national government,” Acosta told local radio station Caracol today. “There are reasons of state, and there’s a public interest that takes precedence.” A emergency declaration would give Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos powers to rule by decree for 30 days and potentially overrule standard protocol when dealing with local groups. Royalties from oil, Colombia’s biggest export, are a key source of revenue for the government, currently battling […]

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BOGOTA—Colombia’s energy sector, the main driver of its economy, is limping away from “Black October,” a term coined by Marxist rebels who set forth on a month-long blitzkrieg, attacking oil pipelines, coal trains, electricity plants and transmission towers in a show of strength during peace talks with the government. There were roughly two dozen attacks during October on high-profile targets like oil pipelines, according to security analysts and companies. That was more than double the number of attacks in September and by far the highest for any month this year, according to analysts. The Colombian government usually comes out with a count months later. Colombia’s army declined to comment. Most of the attacks are believed to be the work of the country’s main guerrilla force, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC. The attacks add to doubts about the rebels’ sincerity in reaching a peace agreement with the […]

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BOGOTA—Colombia’s energy sector, the main driver of its economy, is limping away from “Black October,” a term coined by Marxist rebels who set forth on a month-long blitzkrieg, attacking oil pipelines, coal trains, electricity plants and transmission towers in a show of strength during peace talks with the government. There were roughly two dozen attacks during October on high-profile targets like oil pipelines, according to security analysts and companies. That was more than double the number of attacks in September and by far the highest for any month this year, according to analysts. The Colombian government usually comes out with a count months later. Colombia’s army declined to comment. Most of the attacks are believed to be the work of the country’s main guerrilla force, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC. The attacks add to doubts about the rebels’ sincerity in reaching a peace agreement with the […]

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