A Colombian oil field, operated by state
petroleum company Ecopetrol and Canada’s Pacific Rubiales Energy
Corp, is estimated by the government to have 500 million barrels
in reserves.
If the estimate is correct, it would make the field,
located in the southern province of Meta, the biggest producer
in Colombia.
The Andean country is in a race against time to increase
production in order to avoid becoming a net petroleum
importer.
“Rubiales’ reserves, which were initially estimated at 100
million barrels, today are estimated at 500 million barrels,”
Energy Minister Hernan Martinez said late Wednesday.
Ecopetrol’s share price rose 3.8 percent on the news to
2,760 pesos in Thursday trade.
Colombia produced 588,000 barrels of oil per day in 2008. (Reuters)