News and AnalysIs for

Petroamerica reports in a press release that the Las Maracas-4 well Los Ocarros Block Llanos Basin was producting 1,500 bpd of 30 degree API oil. They say it could produce 2,000 bpd but the trucks cannot get in and out fast enough because of a rig coming in for exploratory drilling and a workover rig moving out.

Recently, the National Environmental Licensing Agency granted the country’s first license for non-conventional hydrocarbons. The testing will take place in the villages known as Dominguito and Patiño in the municipality of Buenavista, Boyacá in a region better known for emeralds and dairy cattle than oil and gas. The block is known as Chiquinquira and is operated by Nexen which has adjacent exploration blocks in the same high plateau region.

We didn’t see the original article — it has been wiped off the website — but apparently Bloomberg reported yesterday in an interview with Luz Helena Sarmiento, head of the National Environmental Licensing Agency (ANLA), that in June of this year Pacific Rubiales had been denied an environmental license for Quifa North West, part of the company’s second biggest oil field.

From a MinAmbiente Press Release. Translated and with commentary by Hydrocarbons Colombia Prior to the community meeting, the Minister Juan Gabriel Uribe, director of Anla, Luz Helena Sarmiento, and a group of congressmen did a flyby by the Quimbo.

Yesterday violent protests in Puerto Gaitan, Meta left 3 dead. RCN Radio — which usually takes a “right-of-center” stance — reported that the protests were because Pacific Rubiales had “failed to deliver on its commitments”. UPDATE: On September 17th, Pacific Rubiales Corporate Affairs Director, Frederico Restrepo told RCN Radio that the protests were not directed at the company but caused by the death of a small child in a traffic accident with a policeman.

We have started tracking security events that could be important for the Oil Gas and Mining industry. See our dedicated page here for a complete listing. We will only be publishing significant events and summaries in the Hydrocarbons Colombia page.