Page 9 - LatAmOil Week 46 2021

LatAmOil COLOMBIA LatAmOil

“It’s ... Colombian mafias, or criminal groups, Province during a flyover inspection.
who are stealing Colombian crude, refining it Colombia lost a total of 3,299 bpd to pipe-
illegally – obviously, artisanally – and which line theft between January and June of this year,
crosses the border to Venezuela,” she was quoted marking a six-year high. In the first half of 2020,
as saying by Reuters. by contrast, thefts averaged 2,744 bpd, up from
Colombia’s national tax authority, known 1,796 bpd in the same period of 2016.
as DIAN, made similar statements. Venezuela’s Colombian police analysts told Reuters that
economic crisis “has driven the flow of hydro- criminal groups were processing the stolen oil
carbons from Colombia to Venezuela,” the in clandestine refineries before turning it into a
agency said in an email to Reuters. basic green-coloured gasoline called “pategrillo”
The biggest target for gangs has been the that can be used in cocaine production.
Cano Limon-Covenas pipeline, which is located “The main use is to process plant com-
near the Venezuelan border. Illegal withdrawals pounds during cocaine production,” said Brig-
from this link amounted to 2,430 barrels per day adier-General Jesus Alejandro Barrera, the
on average in the first half of 2021, up from 2,008 director of Colombia’s rural police force. “Once
bpd in the same period of 2020, according to [the gangs] saw they couldn’t bring gasoline
Cenit data. The pipeline operator said earlier this directly from Venezuela, they said: ‘Let’s use this
week that it had discovered another breach near pategrillo as an ingredient to make these com-
the Tibu municipality in Norte de Santander pounds.’” ™

SURINAME
Non-commercial discovery reported

at Bonboni-1 well offshore Suriname

TOTALENERGIES of France and its US-based “high-quality, water-bearing reservoirs” in its
partner APA have discovered non-commercial primary objectives, the Maastrichtian and Cam-
reserves of crude oil in Bonboni-1, an explora- panian layers.
tion well drilled in the northern section of Block It explained that Bonboni-1 had encountered
58 offshore Suriname. of 16 metres of net pay – crude oil with a specific
APA unveiled the drilling results from gravity of 25 degrees API and a low gas-to-oil
Bonboni-1 in a statement dated November ratio (GOR) – in a single zone within the Maas-
16, reporting that the well had penetrated trichtian layer.

Gas from ExxonMobil’s Stabroek block will fuel a power plant (Image: APA)

Week 46 18•November•2021 www. NEWSBASE .com P9