BP FINDS MAJOR GAS/CONDENSATE FIELD IN COLOMBIA

BP Exploration has found a world class natural gas/condensate field in Colombia it says could more than double the country's usable gas reserves.

BP's current midrange estimate of the find's recoverable reserves is 5 tcf of gas and 250 million bbl of condensate. The 1 Volcanera wildcat, completed at yearend 1993, tapped a massive reservoir that straddles the boundary between the Recetor block and the Piedemonte acreage to the north. Former Recetor block operator Maxus Energy Corp.'s drillstem tests of that wildcat yielded a combined 9.4 MMcfd of gas and 326 b/d of condensate (OGJ, Oct. 11, 1993, p. 35). BP acquired a majority interest in Recetor from Maxus for $10 million last year, with Maxus retaining an override (OGJ, Dec. 13, 1993, p. 27). It operates and holds a 63.33% interest in the Recetor association contract. Remaining interests are held by Deilmann Erdol Erdgas 20% and Inaquimicas 16.67%. BP owns the Piedemonte association contract 100%. The discovery well on Recetor block in the Llanos foothills of eastern Colombia established a reservoir thickness of 650 ft.

A later seismic survey confirmed a structure as much as 25 km long and 5 km wide, mostly within the Piedemonte block. The 1 Pauto Sur appraisal well is under way to determine the field's northern extent, and the 2 Volcanera appraisal is planned for the southern portion this year.

DOMESTIC GAS MARKET

BP Exploration Chief Executive John Browne noted gas demand in Colombia is forecast to grow by 10%/year the next 5-10 years and said BP is pursuing gas market opportunities in industrial and domestic sectors as well as power generation. Colombian gas consumption currently is 400 MMcfd and expected to reach 1 bcfd by 2000 under a $3 billion plan by state petroleum company Empresa Colombiana de Petroleos (Ecopetrol) to expand the nation's gas infrastructure.

Ecopetrol estimates Colombia's gas reserves at 7.5 tcf. However, BP noted that all but about 3.4 tcf of that is contained in the company's Cusiana-Cupiaga oil field complex about 35 km southwest and is to be reinjected for reservoir pressure maintenance there. BP said Volcanera gas also could be injected at Cusiana for gas lift.