The Colombian Government reiterates that it will respect the more than 330 current contracts for the exploration and exploitation of hydrocarbons

This Minenergy release was published using machine translation.

Bogotá, October 20, 2022. The Minister of Mines and Energy, Irene Vélez Torres, confirmed what was said this Thursday by President Gustavo Petro, and guaranteed that the 330 contracts for exploration and exploitation of hydrocarbons in Colombia will be respected, according to the planning established by the contracting companies within the framework of the current contractual provisions.

The official explained that the country currently has more than 147 contracts in the exploitation phase. And that around 750 thousand barrels of oil are produced per day and 1,100 million cubic feet per day. And that it has proven reserves for 7.6 and 8 years of oil and gas, respectively.

Vélez presented figures according to which oil production from August 7, 2022 to date, has maintained an upward trend in daily production, having days in which up to 779 thousand barrels / day have been produced. According to data from the Ministry, in 2021 there was a net production of 268 million barrels, while in 2022 there is an approximate projection of 273 million barrels. Thus increasing oil production by 2% compared to the immediately previous year

He recalled that at present there are 207 contracts signed with exploration areas, of which 117 are in execution, that is, about 56% of them. "We want to reactivate the rest to be able to count on these resources and take advantage of them correctly," assured Minister Vélez.

“We still have significant gas resources in the Colombian Caribbean that could potentially become reserves and would significantly increase the country's self-sufficiency horizon. With the Gorgon, Uchuva and Orca wells we will seek to adjust the gas resources to our energy transition plan”, he noted.

The Minister recalled that the Government of President Gustavo Petro committed to the country to carry out some in-depth transformations, among which is a Just Energy Transition, without putting energy sovereignty at risk, in the practice of "a responsible macroeconomic policy" , supporting what was said by the Minister of Finance, José Antonio Ocampo.