Eric Watkins
Senior Correspondent
LOS ANGELES, Apr. 29 -- Colombia's Agencia Nacional de Hidrocarburos (ANH) will join with Jamaica's state-owned oil company to search for oil off San Andres island in the Caribbean, according to a senior official.
ANH Director Armando Zamora said both companies will carry out studies in the area between San Andres and Jamaica in an effort to attract a private investor to develop exploration activities in the area.
Meanwhile, ANH said Colombia's oil output rose nearly 9% in March to 563,000 b/d from 519,000 b/d a year ago, bolstered by new discoveries and output from state firm Ecopetrol.
"This confirms that there has been a reverse in the tendency toward declining production," said Zamora, adding that foreign direct investment climbed by 40% in the first quarter over the same period in 2007 to $1-1.2 billion.
This year, Zamora said, Colombia plans to auction a total of 151 blocks. In the current round for 48 blocks, he said, it has received interest from Chevron Corp, Royal Dutch Shell PLC, ExxonMobil Corp., and Russia's Lukoil Holdings as well as companies from Japan, South Korea, and Argentina.
Colombia hopes its oil and gas output will reach 700,000 boe/d by 2015 and 1 million boe/d by 2020. Colombia produced 820,000 b/d in the 1990s, but violence from its guerrilla insurgency reduced output as well as foreign investment.
Contact Eric Watkins at [email protected].
