Ecopetrol inks 3 more association contracts with independents

Aug. 7, 2002
Empresa Colombiana de Petroleos SA (Ecopetrol), the Colombian state oil company, signed three new association contracts earlier this week with independents based in the US and Canada.

By an OGJ correspondent

BOGOTA, Aug. 7 -- Empresa Colombiana de Petroleos SA (Ecopetrol), the Colombian state oil company, signed three new association contracts earlier this week with independents based in the US and Canada.

The signing of these contracts brings to seven the number of association contracts signed this year. The total area covered by the three new contracts is 50,000 hectares in the southern region of the country.

Argosy
With the Guayuyaco contract, Argosy Energy International intends to explore a 20,000 hectare area in the Putumayo basin. It is the first contract signed under Ecopetrol's ''adjacent prospecting'' scheme, which hopes to increase investment and exploration in nontraditional areas of the country.

Argosy, which is 30% owned by Dallas-based Aviva Petroleum Inc., has been involved in oil exploration in Colombia since 1972 and operates existing contracts in the same region. Argosy's Santana contract, which covers Toroyaco, Mary, Linda, and Miraflor fields in the Putumayo region, currently produces an average of 3,200 b/d of crude oil. Last year, Argosy signed the Magdelena contract to explore a 50,000 hectare area in the Middle Magdalena Valley.

Petrobank
Canada's Petrobank Energy & Resources Ltd. signed the Moqueta A and B association contracts to explore an area of 30,000 hectares, also in the Putumayo basin. The contract was signed through the company's Colombian affiliate, Petrominerales SA.

Long associated with exploration and production in Canada, Petrobank also has operations in Ecuador.