Colombia’s crude oil output in September rose to an average 679,000 barrels a day from 610,000 barrels a day in the same month last year, the government oil-licensing agency reported Monday on its Web site.
Oil production in September was higher than in August, when output reached a revised 668,000 barrels a day, the National Hydrocarbons Agency report said.
Average crude output in the first nine months of the year was 653,000 barrels a day.
Foreign and domestic companies extracted an average 1.16 billion cubic feet a day of natural gas in September, up from 945 million one year earlier and higher than August’s 1.06 billion cubic feet, said the agency, known as ANH.
In 2008, average crude oil output totaled 588,000 barrels a day, the highest since 2001 when output for the year hit an average of 604,000 barrels a day. In 2000, the country’s output had reached an average of 688,000 barrels a day.
Canada-based Pacific Rubiales Energy Corp. and Colombia’s state-controlled oil company managed to boost production from their Rubiales field in eastern Colombia to 72,000 barrels a day thanks to a new pipeline that allows them to ship more oil out of the field.
If local consumption and production trends continue, and no significant oil discoveries are made, Colombia will become a net oil importer by 2017, according to public remarks by Mines and Energy Minister Hernan Martinez.
The Colombian government has been actively trying to attract companies to explore for oil. (Dow Jones)