Page 9 - LatAmOil Week 13 2021

LatAmOil COLOMBIA LatAmOil

Perdomo will serve as the chairman of the spe- have guessed that the NOC is being forced into
cial committee, it added. the deal so that the Colombian government
can generate extra revenues to cover its own
ISA’s expectations expenses.
Ecopetrol published its statement on the same However, officials in Bogota appear to
day that Bernardo Vargas, the CEO of ISA, told approve of Ecopetrol’s plans, seeing them as
the Bloomberg news agency that he did not part of a wider effort to heed climate concerns.
expect the TSO to become dependent on its Bayon, for his part, has pointed out that the
new parent organisation following absorption acquisition will help diversify the NOC’s port-
by the NOC. folio while also reducing carbon emissions and
In a video interview, he declared that he contributing to environmental, social and gov-
trusted the reassurances given by officials from ernance (ESG) goals. “The fact that no other oil
Colombia’s Finance Ministry and by Felipe and gas company has done it doesn’t mean it’s a
Bayon, the chairman and CEO of Ecopetrol. bad idea,” he told Bloomberg in a separate inter-
The NOC’s managers and executives under- view earlier this year. ™
stand that meddling could destroy ISA’s value,
and they are not interested in seeing this happen,
he remarked.
“They recognise that if they interfere in ISA’s
corporate governance or managerial autonomy,
they are going to be shooting themselves in the
foot,” he said to the news agency.
Ecopetrol announced plans to bid for a 51.4%
stake in ISA earlier this year, and Colombia’s
government has said it will accept the offer. The
deal is expected to be valued at $3.5-4.0bn.
Some observers have expressed scepticism
about the NOC’s decision, which represents a
major departure from Ecopetrol’s core activ-
ities of developing, transporting, processing
and selling crude oil and natural gas. Others Ecopetrol aims to acquire 51.4% of ISA’s equity (Image: Colprensa)

Arrow Exploration says Colombia’s

Capella oilfield is back on stream

CANADA’S Arrow Exploration reported ear- were running low. The partners are ready to
lier this week that upstream development oper- resume development now that the market for
ations had resumed at Capella, an oilfield within Brent crude has recovered, with prices topping
the Caguan-Putumayo basin in Colombia. $60.00 per barrel.
In a statement, Arrow said its wholly owned Ombu is not Carrao’s only upstream asset in
subsidiary Carrao Energy and its partners had Colombia. The Arrow subsidiary is also a 50%
succeeded in bringing Capella back on stream contingent shareholder in Tapir, a block in the
on March 20. Between that date and March 29, Llanos basin, and its partner in this project is
it noted, Capella’s production level rose to 1,029 Ecopetrol, the South American state’s national
barrels per day, with approximately 103 bpd net oil company (NOC).
to Carrao. In its statement, Arrow said that its net share
Output is on track to climb to about 1,400 of production from RCE-1, a well drilled at the
bpd, with around 140 bpd net to Carrao, by Tapir block, amounted to around 170 bpd as of
April 26, the statement noted. March 30.
Arrow’s Carrao subsidiary has a 10% stake This brings the company’s net produc-
in Ombu, the block that contains the Capella tion in Colombia up to 273 bpd, equivalent to
oilfield. Ombu’s operator is Emerald Energy about 79.6% of its total output of 343 bpd. (The
Colombia, which has been a subsidiary of Chi- remaining 70 bpd derive from fields in the
na’s state-owned Sinochem since 2009. Canadian province of Alberta.)
Capella has been offline for about a year. According to Arrow, Carrao is interested
Emerald Energy Colombia shut the field down in working in the Middle Magdalena Valley
in the first quarter of 2020, citing concerns about (MMV) in Colombia, as well as the Llanos and
its profitability at a time when Brent crude prices Caguan-Putumayo basins. ™

Week 13 01•April•2021 www. NEWSBASE .com P9

A 160-km pipeline will pump gas from Liza-1 to the coast (Image: OilNOW.gy)