Colombian bid round: old and new challenges
A combination of social disputes and competition from Guyana and Suriname is hampering Bogota’s efforts to attract further investment
Colombia’s state licensing regulator, the National Hydrocarbon Agency (ANH), announced in December the winners of the country’s second oil auction of the year. Blocks 123 and 124 in the Llanos Basin, an oil rich region in the east of the country, were awarded to a consortium headed by Latin American-focused operator Geopark—taking a 50pc stake—with Hocol, a subsidiary of the Colombian state controlled Ecopetrol, holding the remaining equity. The only other competitor for Block 124 was from Canadian firm Parex Resources. Geopark described the expansion of its Colombian portfolio and the acquisition of the blocks, which total an area of nearly 116,000 gross acres, as “attractive, low-risk, hig

Also in this section
10 March 2025
Oil sands will be complemented by conventional and shale output growth and supply opportunities improved by the Trans Mountain Pipeline, but the tariff threat remains
10 March 2025
Political backbiting and slumping drilling activity point to further declines ahead of next year’s election
8 March 2025
Honouring the trailblazing women shaping the future of hydrogen
7 March 2025
Castberg may not be enough to offset declines in other fields, while its vastly different quality has far-reaching implications for buyers