Page 9 - LatAmOil Week 10 2021

LatAmOil COLOMBIA LatAmOil

Colombia’s next bidding round

slated to open by end of March

COLOMBIA’S government is reportedly set
to release the schedule for its next oil and gas
licensing round by the end of March.
According to Armando Zamora, the head
of the South American country’s state oil regu-
lator ANH, Bogotá will start accepting bids in
the Ronda Colombia 2021 tender for 32 new
blocks within the next few weeks. The regulatory
agency aims to name the winners of the auctions
in November, he told Reuters on the sidelines of
IHS Markit’s CERAWeek conference last week.
He further stated that the Colombian gov-
ernment hoped to sign contracts for at least 15
of the 32 licence areas covered by the tender. He
did not say which blocks were likely to reach
that stage, but he did note that officials in Bogotá ANH head Armando Zamora (Photo: Twitter/SNH)
were working with local authorities in several
basins and looking at several new contract mod- The main factor bringing output levels down
els in the run-up to the bidding contest. last year was the coronavirus (COVID-19) pan-
These moves will help ANH assign as many demic, which led many companies working
sites as possible to investors, he said. Conclud- in Colombia to ramp down or postpone their
ing deals is a higher priority for the agency than investment programmes. These firms had been
securing large signing bonuses, he added. on track to drill 45 exploration wells in the South
Zamora went on to say that Colombian oil American country, but they only sank 18.
production was likely to average around 800,000 Zamora expressed optimism about Colom-
barrels per day in 2021. This is lower than the bia’s prospects this year, saying: “I do foresee a
2019 figure of 886,000 bpd but higher than the rebound effect in production, prices and activity
2020 average of 781,0000 bpd, he noted. after the pandemic.” ™

GUYANA
Repaired equipment ready for return

to Liza Destiny FPSO, ExxonMobil says

A contractor for ExxonMobil (US) has com- before the end of the week.
pleted repair work on faulty equipment from the “This follows the successful completion of
Liza Destiny, the floating production, storage repairs, upgrades and mechanical testing of
and off-loading (FPSO) vessel that is being used the compressor by MAN Energy Solutions, the
to develop Liza-1, the first producing oilfield at equipment’s manufacturer, with quality assur-
the Stabroek block offshore Guyana. ance and control by experts from the [FPSO]
According to an operational update pub- vessel’s owner SBM Offshore, as well as Exxon-
lished by the US-based super-major’s subsid- Mobil,” Persaud said.
iary in Guyana on March 8, Germany’s MAN The Liza Destiny’s crew will be ready to put
Energy is now ready to return the flash gas the compressor and silencers back in place as
compressor (FGC) and silencers to the FPSO. soon as they arrive, she added. Work teams have
Janelle Persaud, the company’s public and gov- already begun to prepare the rigging and lifting
ernment affairs advisor, said in the update that structures needed to re-install the equipment,
she expected the delivery process to be initiated she explained.

Week 10 11•March•2021 www. NEWSBASE .com P9