Colombian oil exploration and
production investment will dip 11 percent to as low as $3.2
billion this year versus 2008, the Colombia Petroleum
Association said on Thursday.
The slowing global economy has cut demand for commodities
such as oil.
“The uncertainty has to do with the fact that we do not
know how petroleum prices are going to behave, we are not sure
what will happen with the cost of projects in Colombia,”
association chief Alejandro Martinez told reporters.
The oil sector had been one of the most dynamic parts of
the Andean country’s economy until gross domestic product
started slowing last year.
Shareholders of state-controlled oil company Ecopetrol
last week approved the company’s plan to issue
up to $4 billion in bonds to fund its expansion program.