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in the world for a company like ours,” says
Mauricio de la Mora, general manager for
Interoil Colombia.
In the 2010 round, Interoil was granted
two of the most desired blocks: Llanos 47
and Cordillera 6. The company is now in
the early stages of exploration studies on
those blocks after waiting almost a year to
receive the necessary permits. At this time,
Interoil is also looking to spread the risk
and so is looking for partners on Llanos 47
and Cordillera 6. “There has been a lot of
interest and we are considering a lot of
farm-in opportunities,” says de la Mora.
Another gem within Interoil’s Colombian
portfolio is Altair, a small block that
was won in the 2008 bidding round. “Altair
has continued to be a great success. It has
been steadily producing 500 barrels per day
with a very nice water cut of close to 15%,”
enthuses de la Mora.
Petroamerica Oil is listed on the TSX
Ventures Exchange and has assembled a
large portfolio of prospective oil properties
in several prolific basins, but the Llanos
basin is the core focus of the company. The
company has made two discoveries since its
inception. Their first discovery was made
there, in the Balay-1 project, in which they
have a 15% share with Petrobras as operator.
The second discovery was drilled on the
Los Ocarros block, operated by Parex,
where it has 50% ownership.
Nelson Navarrete, the president and
CEO, sees a great deal of potential in the
basin: “It is still an unexplored area, where
new drilling and appraisal techniques will
enable more discoveries.”
Early production from the Las Maracas-2
well on the Los Ocarros block is anticipated
to be on stream in the second quarter of
2012. Navarrete has a clear plan in order to
develop Petroamerica’s lead prospects: “In
2012, we will focus on the reserve potential
of our most recent discovery on the Los
Ocarros Block, and in the development of
the Balay project. In addition, we are planning
to drill at least six exploratory wells in
six different blocks to delineate our other
assets. Our strategy is to thoroughly explore
our land position, particularly the blocks in
the Llanos Basin.”
In 2011, Petroamerica undertook a process
of portfolio optimization, whereby the
exposure has been reduced from 13 blocks
over three basins to eight blocks over two
basins. This has reduced the exploration
commitment of more than $80 million, to
an approximately $34-million exploration
budget.
As the company now moves forward on
its lead projects and other exploration targets,
it sees an opportunity to take on operation
of a project. However, Navarrete
thinks that the careful selection of experienced
partners and effective shared ownership
will continue to be the company’s
model.
C&C Energia is another TSX-listed,
pure Colombia E&P play that is also maintaining
a focus on the Llanos and Putumayo
basins. The company has achieved a daily
production of 10,600 barrels of mainly light
oil since beginning operations in 2005. Fifty
percent of that growth has been achieved in
the past 18 months, since going public in
May 2010. C&C Energia holds interests in
eight to nine blocks, seven as operator, in
Colombia, with a total acreage position of
approximately 626,000 acres.
“C&C is a technical company aiming at
our strengths, and put together blocks from
the ground upwards in areas that we prefer,”
explains Richard Walls, C&C’s president.
C&C’s success rate was assisted by the inventory
of projects the company managed
Nelson Navarrete, president and CEO,
Petroamerica Oil Corp. (Photo courtesy of
Petroamerica)
to secure when the country opened up bid
rounds in 2005.
The company’s cash-flow foundation is
based on Llanos Basin assets, where the
company has pursued a strategy of low- to
medium-risk exploration. Last year, C&C
concentrated on exploration in the Llanos
Basin, the origin of its production growth
and where half the company’s blocks are yet
to be tested.
Walls sees the company’s Putumayo assets
as having significant upside potential:
“The geology, structures, and style in the
Putumayo are different but with larger potential
accumulations than the Llanos. The
southern Putumayo is a northern extension
of the Oriente Basin, Ecuador, which has
some giant fields.”
C&C achieved a cash flow of approximately
$125 million for 2011, expects at
least $160 million for 2012 and currently
has $112 million in cash. Walls feels that,
with these financials, deal-making opportunities
may emerge for the company in the
June 2012 ▪ OilandGasInvestor.com C-13