Frontera ramping up Colombia infra works, eyes production uptick

Frontera Energy is on track to bring online a bidirectional flowline in northern Colombia later this year after breaking ground on the project in the first quarter, executives said on Thursday. 

The 6.8km, 18-inch line will connect the Reficar refinery in Cartagena to the company's Puerto Bahia liquids terminal on Colombia's Caribbean coast.

"The Reficar connection is going very well," Frontera CEO Orlando Cabrales said in a quarterly earnings call. 

"We’re still planning to complete construction work by the end of this year, consistent with our plan," he added of the project, which will be capable of handling imported and domestically produced crude. 

Cabrales pointed out that progress had been made "on different fronts" for the flowline, including the awarding of an EPC contract, the details of which were not disclosed. 

In March, Frontera said it secured US$30mn in funding for the connection from a consortium of lenders led by Australia's Macquarie Group. 

The Canadian firm reported a net loss of US$8.5mn in the first quarter compared to net income of US$92mn in the prior three-month period as it grappled with higher tax expenses, lower production, negative exchange rate effects and losses related to risk management contracts. 

Production averaged 38,193boe/d in Q1, down from 39,267boe/d in the prior quarter and 41,586boe/d a year earlier. 

Frontera blamed the decrease on natural field declines, well failures and community blockades. 

Cabrales said the company was still on track to reach its full-year production target of 40,000-42,000boe/d, adding that output would be boosted by a new injector well and increased water handling capacity on its Quifa block.