Ecopetrol and Pacific Rubiales will carry out a pilot project to test new technology for the extraction of heavy crude oil, according to a Pacific Rubiales press release published Thursday.
The companies will carry out a pilot test of STAR (Synchronized Thermal Additional Recovery) technology in Quifa field in the Llanos Orientales (Eastern Plains).
After numeric simulations, studies and tests carried out in research labs in the University of Calgary in Canada, the conclusion was reached that the introduction of in-situ combustion technologies, such as STAR, is one of the best ways to increase the recovery factor in heavy oil fields in Colombia.
If the trial in the Quifa oil field is successful and both companies can agree on commercial terms, the technology will be applied to the neighboring Rubiales field where conditions are similar to those in Quifa.
State-run Ecopterol and Pacific Rubiales, a Canadian-based firm with its main assets in Colombia, announced in early March that drilling in its Apamate-1X well showed positive results. Ecopetrol also recently announced it is on track to produce 1.45 million barrels of oil a day by 2013.