Colombia’s state oil company Ecopetrol Thursday announced the discovery of gas and oil in the Gulf of Mexico.
Ecopetrol announced the successful results of its deep-water drilling in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico, about 230km off the coast of Louisiana.
The discovery shows a column of approximately 240 feet with evidence of gas, and another of 40 feet showing evidence of oil.
Ecopetrol has a 30% stake in the find while the remaining stakeholders are Stone Energy and the operator, Apache.
The drilling reached a total depth of 18,900 feet where fluid and pressure readings were taken from the Miocene sands which hold hydrocarbon, gas and oil, deposits dating from 5 – 23 million years ago.
The partners will now analyze the data and create 3-D seismic databases, subsurface maps, to inform forward strategy.
This is the second deep-water discovery made by Colombia’s oil company in the Gulf of Mexico, one of the regions with the highest oil and gas potential in the world
Ecopetrol’s net income grew 17.6% in the first half of this year compared to the same period in 2011 while average production during the second quarter of 2012 was 4.8 per cent higher than in the same period of 2011.
The Gulf of Mexico discovery is expected to assist in the oil company’s strategy to reach a production level of 1 million clean barrels of oil a day by 2015, and 1.3 million clean barrels by 2020.