No counter-offers in Colombia oil round, 30 contracts to be signed

Canacol Energy (Alberta)

16/12/2021 17:23

BOGOTA, Dec 16 (Reuters) - There were no counter-offers for
oil and gas blocs in Colombia's latest licensing round, but
contracts for 30 blocs which received bids will be signed in the
coming days, the government said on Thursday.
    The oil and gas industry is a major source of income and
foreign exchange for Colombia and the government is pushing to
grow reserves in the face of just 6.3 years worth of proven oil
reserves and 7.7 years of gas.
    Initial bids placed on Dec. 2 had a combined estimated
investment value of more than $148 million, according to the
national hydrocarbons agency (ANH).
    "The adjudication of 30 areas, out of 53 under
consideration, is confirmed in the 2021 Colombia round, a
success rate of 56%," the ANH said in a short bulletin.
    Parex Resources  PXT.TO  placed more than half of the bids
earlier this month, while Colombia's majority state-owned oil
company Ecopetrol  ECO.CN  and its subsidiary, Hocol, bid on
five.
    Other companies which have now won contracts include Lewis
Energy, Maurel & Prom  MAUP.PA , Frontera Energy  FEC.TO , and
CNE Oil & Gas, which is owned by Canacol Energy  CNE.TO .
    The 30 new contracts will send the government past its
target of signing 50 oil and gas contracts during the term of
President Ivan Duque, which ends in August 2022. 
    Combined with contracts signed in previous years, secured
deals during the administration total 69 blocks. 
    The government had put forward 28 blocks for bidding ahead
of the auction, while the oil and gas industry had nominated a
further 25 areas for consideration.
    Latin America's fourth-largest economy signed just four
hydrocarbon contracts with two companies during last year's
auction amid the coronavirus pandemic.

 (Reporting by Julia Symmes Cobb, Editing by Rosalba O'Brien)
 ((julia.cobb@thomsonreuters.com; +57-316-389-7187))