Colombia’s oil company makes new discovery; plans to drill another ten wells in the block

Colombian state oil company Ecopetrol said it made a new discovery at a well in the south-eastern Caño Sur block, of which the company is the sole owner and operator.

The Mito-1 exploratory well yielded an average of 200 barrels per day of heavy oil in initial testing, Ecopetrol, which plans to drill another 10 wells at that block in the near future, said.

The well was drilled to a depth of more than one kilometre and production testing brought up a flow of 225 bpd, which will fall to 200 bpd with the water and sediment cut, Ecopetrol said.

Caño Sur is located in Puerto Gaitan, a municipality in the south-eastern province of Meta.

That province “represents about 40% of the company’s crude production and is one of the focal points of the exploratory campaign in its strategy leading up to 2020,” Ecopetrol said.

The company signed a contract with the National Hydrocarbons Agency that makes it the sole owner and operator of the Caño Sur block.

The Mito-1 exploratory well is contiguous to the Quifa field, in which Ecopetrol also holds a stake.

Ecopetrol, Colombia’s largest company, accounts for 60% of total oil and gas production in the Andean nation and also is involved in exploration and production activities in Brazil, Peru and the U.S. Gulf of Mexico.