Ecopetrol is interested in receiving new proposals for certain areas where state-of-art-technology is required to increase the field's production, or where oil has been found, but no infrastructure development has been undertaken. Ecopetrol is also experimenting a new type of exploration and development contract. Shared risk contracts, are assigned where prospects and prospective areas have already been defined. These contracts are very interesting since they allow the risk to be shared with Ecopetrol, the areas are located near existing oil infrastructure, and the probability of finding oil is very high.
Other tender options include small fields and incremental production fields. Small fields have the advantage that they have already been discovered, that the investor contributes with the entire investment, but also take 100% of the post-royalty field production and then will hand to Ecopetrol, the percentage offered. Additionally, the small fields will be contracted under a format different from the existing Association Contract.
The incremental production fields have a very high potential for additional reserves, these fields have a very low risk factor, and they are located near existing production and transport infrastructure. This option allows the investor to recover mature fields operated by Ecopetrol using advanced technology.
The bids will have six different stages and the first one was opened on April. The second bid was opened on May. The first round will be awarded on July and the second round will be awarded on October. Those companies interested in applying for any of the available options will have to go through a pre-qualification process in order to be invited to bid. After they are pre-qualified, they must show their legal and financial capacity, and meet the technical and operational profile for each of the business options proposed by Ecopetrol.
Ecopetrol received 57 pre-qualification applications for the first round. Only seven of these were not pre-qualified, and 50 were invited to bid for the investment opportunities.
Finally, it is worth mentioning that Amoco Colombia and Arco have signed two new association contracts with Ecopetrol in order to explore the Colombian Caribbean Continental Shelf for oil and Gas. The two companies are expected to invest over US$ 190 million. These two contracts are a part of the four contracts signed by Ecopetrol for hydrocarbon exploration in the Colombian seas.
Prepared by Hernando Padilla from Gomez Pinzon & Asociados, Bogota, Colombia.
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide but specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.
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