Market regulator to offer 32 onshore and offshore blocks in latest effort to attract investments to the country
Colombian hydrocarbons regulator the ANH plans to offer 32 new onshore and offshore areas in a bid round scheduled for later this year.
The auction is a fresh attempt by the Colombian government to attract new investments to the country after production tumbled in 2020 to below 800,000 barrels per day of oil — its lowest level in a decade.
The ANH will auction off 20 exploration and production contracts and 12 technical evaluation agreements in a total of 10 basins, including six new frontier plays.
These feature 23 onshore tracts and nine offshore blocks, including acreage in the Colombia NW basin in the Caribbean Sea and the Choco Continental and Tumaco Costa Afuera basins in the Pacific Ocean.
According to ANH president Armando Zamora, the round will offer companies a simpler and more flexible contractual model, free access to data and blockchain technology, as well as opportunities for interaction with the oil industry.
The areas on offer have 101 oil leads and 44 natural gas leads. The offshore blocks are home to an estimated 1.074 billion barrels of oil and 12.25 trillion cubic feet of gas, while the onshore blocks may hold 521.7 million barrels of oil and 63 billion cubic feet of gas.
Operators will have until 31 August to express interest in participating in the round. The ANH will publish on 1 October more details about the blocks on offer, with the full list of qualified companies to be unveiled on 11 October.
The bid round is scheduled for 30 October, with the ANH opening up to receive counteroffers on 15 November.
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Source: Upstream | This text was excerpted from the media outlet cited on March 29, 2021 and is provided to Noia members for information purposes only. Any opinion expressed therein is neither attributable to nor endorsed by Noia.
