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CNOOC’s block is adjacent to several sites controlled by Pemex (Image: CNH)
The Chinese major hopes to find nearly 500mn region just a few miles away from the US mari-
barrels of oil equivalent (boe) of prospective time border in the Perdido fold belt. In 2019, the
resources in the Wilcox formation Anglo-Dutch major Royal Dutch Shell made the
Some industry observers believe that if Blacktip discovery on the US side, less than 160
these efforts are successful, Mexico’s national km away. Blacktip was Shell’s second material
oil company (NOC) Pemex may seek to unitise discovery in the area.
the project with its own efforts, as the reser- Meanwhile, Pemex and Australia’s BHP Bil-
voirs identified by CNOOC extend beyond the liton are also jointly developing Trion, a field
boundaries of the CNH-R01-L04-A1.CPP/2016 near CNOOC’s block that is estimated to con-
licence area. (Pemex has cited similar reasons as tain 500mn boe. Trion was discovered in 2012
justification for initiating unitisation procedures and is expected to begin production in the mid-
for two shallow-water blocks in the southern 2020s at the earliest. It lies about 150 km off the
Gulf of Mexico.) coast of Tamaulipas State and is only 6 km from
Ameyali is located in an ultra-deepwater the maritime border with the US. ™

COLOMBIA
Ecopetrol launches new bidding round

COLOMBIA’S national oil company (NOC) bid for the right to develop (and also, in some
Ecopetrol confirmed on September 30 that it cases, explore) these assets, with “the option
had begun a new round of auctions for nine of an early incorporation of production and
upstream sites. reserves, in addition to primary and secondary
In a statement, the company reported it had development options,” Ecopetrol said.
formally launched the Ronda Campos Ecopet- The NOC further stated that it was offering
rol 2020 on September 23. It also said it would its entire stake in all of the sites.
welcome offers from both “national and inter-
national companies wishing to strengthen their
position in Colombia or wanting to expand their
national operations.”
Registered and qualified firms will be able to
submit offers electronically during the fourth
quarter of 2020, the NOC added. “Companies
that meet the National Hydrocarbon Agency’s
current qualification requirements for this cate-
gory of assets may participate,” it stated.
The auctions will cover the Upía, La Punta
and Rancho Hermoso sites in the Llanos Basin,
as well as the Tenerife, San Luis and Lebrija sites
in the Middle Magdalena Basin and the Toy,
Totare and Andalucía sites in the Upper Mag-
dalena Basin. Potential partners will be able to The auctions cover nine onshore fields (Image: Ecopetrol)

Week 39 01•October•2020 www. NEWSBASE .com P13