Colombia’s state-run petrol company, Ecopetrol, struck oil for the first time in 2012, the company announced Wednesday.
The 9,100 ft-deep exploratory well in the Tisquirama oil field, located in the northeastern department of Cesar, produced 624 barrels of oil a day in initial tests.
The extracted oil had a water cut of 0.1% and an API grade of 23, indicating the crude is of medium density.
The Tisquirama block currently produces approximately 2,400 barrels of oil a day. The find was made as part of a strategy to detect new deposits close to existing oil fields. This is also called near field exploration.
Ecopetrol, primarily owned by the Colombian government, has 100% of the rights to the block and is the operator. The company successfully explored 9 wells in 2011.