2017.09.2114:09:00UTC+00ECOPETROL: Company Starts Drilling Its First Offshore Oil Well

The Colombian state-owned oil company Ecopetrol has begun drilling the first offshore oil well that it operates directly, called Molusco, located in the Caribbean Sea. The operation has an investment close to US$ 75 million.

The Molusco well is located in one of the most important basins in Ecopetrol's new exploration strategy, 10 kilometers from the Ballena and Chuchupa gas fields, under territorial waters of the department (state) of La Guajira in northern Colombia.

According to the Colombian government, "the activity comes amid the company's high success rate in similar ventures. Ecopetrol achieved four findings in five drilling, an 80 percent success rate for the first half of 2017."

On July 18, the Ministry of Mines and Energy signed a resolution regulating and authorizing offshore hydrocarbon exploration drilling projects as part of the strategies defined in the Government's National Development Plan.

The drilling starts in a moment that the country faces an urgent need to find new offshore reserves. The South American country's onshore reserves will last only five years more, according to the Colombian Petroleum Association (ACP). Besides, onshore oil output is being affected by factors such as a noncompetitive tax regime and attacks against oil industry infrastructure.