Colombia has signed contracts with nine oil companies worth US$500 million to explore for oil near the border with Venezuela, the National
Oil and Gas Agency has announced.
The companies include oil giants Shell and Exxon Mobil, Australian
mining and primary resources company BHP Billiton, and the Korean
National Oil Company, as well as companies from Canada and Peru.
“These
companies have three years to estimate the potential of the area and
choose more specific places to carry out exploration,” said ANH
director Armando Zamora.
The search is being carried out in eight
blocs totally 127,000 square kilometers (49,000 square miles) located
in the eastern Colombia departments of Meta, Arauca, Casanare, Vichada,
Guania and Guaviare.
Colombia currently produces some 585,000 barrels of crude per day, and hopes to produce a million barrels a day by 2020.
Last
week the government of President Alvaro Uribe said it hopes this year
to increase its certified reserves of crude from 1.4 billion to four
billion barrels after new finds. (AFP)