COLOMBIA: STATE OWNED OIL COMPANY ECOPETROL DISCOVER OIL AT THE GIBRALTAR PROSPECT IN THE COUNTRY'S NORTHEAST.

Record ID: 645724

  • Title: COLOMBIA: STATE OWNED OIL COMPANY ECOPETROL DISCOVER OIL AT THE GIBRALTAR PROSPECT IN THE COUNTRY'S NORTHEAST.
  • Date: 3rd March 2003
  • Summary: 23 (W8) BOGOTA, COLOMBIA (MARCH 04, 2003) (REUTERS) MV: OF OIL EXPERT AND SENATOR HUGO SERRANO GOMEZ. (2 SHOTS) SCU: (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) OIL EXPERT AND SENATOR HUGO SERRANO GOMEZ, SAYING: "It's important for the future, but the oil that was found, or will be found this week, can't be commercialized for three or four years, because the infrastructure has to be created, reserves have to be determined. And, to determine the reserves, there has to be a special study of the deposits that requires perforating one, two or three of the wells."
  • Embargoed: 18th March 2003 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: BOGOTA AND CUBARA, COLOMBIA
  • Country: Colombia
  • Topics: Business,Environment,Energy
  • Reuters ID: LVA6PTMU5MDIWQXQN48SYVQGI8M
  • Story Text: Colombia's state-run oil company has struck oil at a site recently abandoned by an American oil firm.
    Colombia's state-owned oil firm Ecopetrol announced on Monday (March 3) the discovery of up to 200 million barrels of
    "very high quality" crude oil at the Gibraltar prospect in the country's Northeast.
    Ecopetrol President Isaac Yanovich said a discovery of that magnitude would make it the largest in company history.
    The area is home to the indigenous Uwa Indians who have strongly opposed the explorations because they believe nature's blood runs through the mountains.
    Gibraltar had been controlled by Occidental Petroleum until May of last year. But the U.S.-based energy company abandoned its stake after it had invested approximately 60 million dollars after exhaustive test-drilling came up dry, and returned the prospect to Ecopetrol.
    The Uwas had threatened mass suicide when Occidental petroleum had started exploring, but eventually staged a strike to protest.
    Yanovich says Occidental has no claim to the find, saying they formally terminated their contract. Still, he said it was not yet clear whether Ecopetrol would call in a foreign oil firm as a contractor to start commercial production.
    He said the Gibraltar prospect also showed signs of natural gas reserves, but added additional tests were still needed.
    The discovery could be crucial for Colombia's attempts to offset declining output that could make the war-torn Andean nation a net oil importer as early as 2004.
    Oil expert and Senator Hugo Serrano Gomez said the process could not be rushed.
    "It's important for the future. But the oil that was found, or will be found this week, can't be commercialized for three or four years because the infrastructure has to be created, reserves have to be determined," said Serrano. "And, to determine the reserves, there has to be a special study of the deposits that requires perforating one, two or three of the wells."
    In January, Ecopetrol warned that natural depletion in Colombia's oil fields should strip about 40,000 barrels-per-day off 2003 oil output, leaving national production at an average of 536,000 bpd this year.
    The most marked decline would come from the BP-operated Cusiana-Cupiagua fields, the country's largest source of crude, which were forecast to turn out 188,000 bpd in 2003 against 230,000 bpd in 2002.
    Colombia is Latin America's fourth largest crude producer, and taxes, royalties and Ecopetrol profits make crude output one of the government's biggest sources of revenue.
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