Colombia’s Ecopetrol ups its game in Brazil, Mexico, and USA

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – More than 75% of the operation is offshore, while 25% are continental blocks. Ecopetrol receives most of its profits from fracking.

With the announcement of greater investments in its international operation, Ecopetrol raises its bet in this hydrocarbon work front and seeks greater relevance in the countries where it develops the task.

Proof of this is that for the activity in 2022, it increased to 30% of the resources destined for the projects it executes in the United States, Brazil, and Mexico. This figure is striking if we consider that in the previous budget, the amount was below 25%.

It is enough to look at the resources allocated for the operation in Unconventional Oilfields (UNC) in the Permian basin in Texas, United States, an activity to which investments of more than US$700 million were allocated to continue with the growth of production activities.

Likewise, and according to the Investment Plan approved by the Board of Directors of the oil company, Ecopetrol’s operation in the region and the United States will depend on the behavior of the price of oil in the international market.

“In terms of financing today, we do not need to resort to markets. We have the possibility of doing it very quickly if required; eventually, we will have some bond issuance. It will depend, among other things, on the price (of oil) that we see,” said Felipe Bayón, president of Ecopetrol.

IN OTHER COUNTRIES

Another work front is Brazil, an operation in which investments for exploration work have increased.

Recently, Brazil’s National Agency for Petroleum, Natural Gas, and Biofuels (ANP) awarded Ecopetrol six blocks located in the Santos Basin, a task it will carry out in association with the multinational Shell.

The consortium, in which Ecopetrol holds 30% and Shell 70%, will develop exploration and production (E&P) activities in offshore waters off the southeastern coasts of Brazil, with a proposed bonus of approximately R$140 million (US$28 million) and a Minimum Exploration Program consisting of the acquisition of a seismic program in the blocks.

Thus, after the award, the Colombian oil company completed a package of 12 blocks for oil development in the Santos and Ceará basins, which includes the Gato do Mato discovery in the neighboring country.

But Ecopetrol not only has an international offshore operation in Brazil but also in the Gulf of Mexico, where it works in the waters of both the United States and Mexico.

It currently operates four E&P blocks assigned by the U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (Boem). The areas obtained in the GOM-Lease Sale 251 bidding process, carried out by the Boem, are in addition to the 61 that the Colombian oil company is already developing in the Gulf of Mexico, in US waters.

In addition to the package of areas it is developing in these offshore waters, two were assigned to it in June 2017 by the Mexican Government (National Hydrocarbons Commission) near the Yucatan Peninsula.

With information from Portafolio