A Special Report From Oil and Gas Investor and Global ... - Equión

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Colombia is keen to protect its dramatic natural beauty that ranges from Carribean coastline, Andean mountains and deep Amazonian rainforest. (Photo courtesy of Patricia Matey García) restart in fourth-quarter 2012. “If successful, these areas could create a positive transformation of the company, as there is an estimated $400 million in resources in the new exploration sites. Our current reserves, including gas, are 30 million boe, and just in Santa Cruz there is an additional estimated 70 million barrels of oil,” enthuses Biondi. PetroMagdalena has strategically decided that, to develop their core assets, such as Santa Cruz and Catguas, it will farm out or sell other assets. However, this has not dampened Biondi’s ambition to make PetroMagdalena a significant player: “I hope that within five years, PetroMagdalena will be producing at least 15,000 barrels per day. This would require a tenfold increase on our current production but I think that with our team, our assets and the clear strategy that we have in place that this target is very realistic.” Caguan-Putumayo The Caguan-Putumayo basin is in the southwest of the country, bordering Ecuador and Peru. Covering approximately 104,000 square kilometres, more than 365 million barrels have been found to date, in 19 oil fields. Suroco Energy Inc. is a Colombia-focused, international oil and gas exploration company based in Calgary, which trades on the TSX Venture Exchange. Suroco has five blocks in Colombia, three of which are in the Putumayo region. Suroco’s president and CEO, Alastair Hill, sees the Putumayo Basin as the northern extension of the Oriente Basin, which has been so well exploited across the border in Ecuador. “There are a number of large fields, up to a billion barrels, in the Oriente Basin and a median field size of 5 million to 8 million barrels. To compare, the Llanos Basin has a median field size of 2 million to 3 million barrels. That makes us feel that the Putumayo is still very prospective and holds significant potential for large field discoveries.” Hill says that Putumayo is of vital importance to the company. “The majority of our asset base is in Putumayo; it is an area where we have the most knowledge. Based on our past activity and investment, we really understand the geology and the resource potential and it will continue to be our principal focus area.” Suroco has been very successful since late 2009. The company has drilled nine wells in this area, enjoyed a high success rate and significantly grown its production from the region. Suroco has three blocks in Putumayo and has a single partner in each of them. Its production block is operated through a consortium agreement that provides Suroco the control it needs to execute its program, as was shown in 2011 and the good results that followed. “There is sometimes a misperception in the market in that, because we have a relatively small working interest in our block, we may get dragged along by the major partner. Actually that is not the case, because to make decisions and execute a program, consensus is required among all partners. Therefore, we have effective co-operation of that block,” says Hill. Heavy oil A significant portion of the recent production growth has been driven by access to abundant heavy oil resources. According to geological surveys, a large heavy oil belt runs from Venezuela, through C-16 OilandGasInvestor.com ▪ June 2012
Martha Rocío Durán, general manager, MR Soluciones Colombia into Ecuador. Colombia’s heavy oil plays are primarily located in the southeastern part of the country, where a heavy oil belt exists in the Llanos Basin. The two largest Colombian heavy oil discoveries to date are Rubiales Field in the Llanos Basin, with 4.38 billion barrels of oil in place, and Capella Field in the Putumayo Basin, with 2.2 billion barrels of oil in place. “I think the future for Colombia is the heavy oil, moving from the west to the east, close to the frontier with Brazil. This oil is really similar to the one in the Orinoco Petroleum Belt. I am very sure that there are going to be a lot of medium and heavy oil discoveries in the Llanos region,” says Humberto Calderón, president of Vetra Energy and former Energy Minister for Venezuela. Given Venezuela’s expertise in heavy oil and the incredible success enjoyed by fellow Venezuelans at Pacific Rubiales, Calderón is well placed to assess this potential. Vetra is a company that offered a range of services and technical support to the Colombian oil and gas industry since 2003. However, the company has now transitioned to focus on exploration and discovery. The company’s exploration activities are currently focused in Putumayo, where it has its main activities, but it is also starting to increase work in the Llanos. Calderón plans to be listed in mid-2012 on the TSX. “The objective of going on public is to build reputation and finance for our plans in Colombia. We will make a small listing, but we expect to grow strongly as investors become familiar with our group,” says Calderón. Environment and community The expansion of acreage available for oil exploration has also extended drilling activity into more remote areas, often populated by indigenous communities or lo- June 2012 ▪ OilandGasInvestor.com C-17
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Page 3 and 4: economic policies that hope to insu
Page 5 and 6: “Our interest is to support the g
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Page 10 and 11: pertise with theirs, that is about
Page 12 and 13: Richard Walls, president, C&C Energ
Page 14 and 15: Alastair Hill, president and CEO, S
Page 18 and 19: cated in environmentally sensitive
Page 20 and 21: Arturo Mendez, vice president, mark
Page 22 and 23: Colombia's seismic surveying has re
Page 24 and 25: oilfield service provider Topen Gro

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