Exclusive-Ecopetrol to beat 2025 drilling goal, may best output target, executive says

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By Nelson Bocanegra

BARRANQUILLA (Reuters) – Colombia’s state-run energy company Ecopetrol is set to exceed its 2025 goal of drilling 10 oil wells by between 20% and 40%, the company’s vice president for hydrocarbons, Rafael Guzman, said on Thursday.

The company drilled six wells in the first half of the year, two of which were successful, it has said.

“I think we will do more than the planned 10 (wells), I think it could be 20% to 40% more than that figure,” Guzman told Reuters on the sidelines of the Acipet energy conference in the Caribbean city of Barranquilla.

Ecopetrol’s daily production is slightly above the upper end of the company’s 2025 target of 750,000 barrels per day, at 751,000 bpd.

“It’s going really well to meet our goal, which is between 740,000 barrels and 750,000 barrels,” he said. “We’ve had some difficulties in the area that have limited production but we have mostly overcome and shown the potential.”

Ecopetrol also hopes to find, within the next 18 months, partners to operate five oil fields, Guzman added, explaining the company has been allowing in partners with capital for investment under production sharing deals.

Those agreements – like one signed with Canada’s Parex Resources last year that will bring $268 million in investment – help increase output and reserves without upfront investment by Ecopetrol, he said.

“We have had multiple offers, there is interest in companies with these schemes. It’s a way to rehabilitate and re-develop some fields that we have,” Guzman said.

The company hopes to replace 100% of oil reserves this year, Guzman added, meaning that for every barrel produced, Ecopetrol adds a barrel to its reserves.

(Reporting by Nelson Bocanegra in Barranquilla; Writing by Julia Symmes Cobb; Editing by Marguerita Choy)