Oil: more than 50% will grow exploration by adding new wells

After almost two years of contracting the country’s oil exploration activities, 2022 appears as the year in which the search for hydrocarbons will intensify in the coming months.

(Read: Nation prepares 2 new mining rounds for gold and coal).

And the commitment of the hydrocarbon companies to carry out the task is such that, it is calculated in more than 50% increase in drilling oil company for new exploratory wells.

The figure is striking if one takes into account that the National Hydrocarbons Agency (ANH) projects that no less than 50 exploratory wellsa number that practically doubles the 24 of 2021, and higher than the 18 of 2020 and 48 of 2019.

The estimates of the technical entity, attached to the Ministry of Mines and Energy, are drawn as long as the price of reference Brent crude oil behaves above US$70 a barrel.

INCREASE IN INVESTMENTS

The increase in more than 50% in the number of holes exploration for 2022, goes in the same direction as the investments planned for the search for hydrocarbons.
A recent study by the Colombian Oil and Gas Association (ACP) estimates an investment in exploration for 2022 of US$1,130 million, which is 2.2 times higher than that executed in 2021 (US$520 million).

“This budget would be the highest exploratory investment since that registered in 2014, but it continues to be lower than the levels presented at the beginning of the last decade (2010), when it was evident that it was a vigorous activity that stimulated the national economy and the development of the oil and gas regions”, highlights the report of the country’s oil union.

(What’s more: Oil price exceeds US $ 100 due to crisis in Ukraine).

Next, the ACP study indicates the growing interest in drilling new exploratory wells in natural gas, and whose percentage of participation continues to grow since it went from 45% of the total exploration budget in 2021 to 52% in 2022 (US$591 million), investments that will be made both on land and offshore.

“The increase in resources confirms the interest of companies in this fuel, which will play a fundamental role in the country’s energy diversification,” said Francisco José Lloreda, executive president of the ACP.

Likewise, the technical report of the guild indicates that about $930 million (82% of the 2021 investments) will be carried out on land and the rest offshore (US$200 million), including the drilling of two deepwater wells.
“78% of the budget will go to drilling exploratory wells, 12% to seismic and 9% to studies, planning activities and others,” he stressed.

THE COMPANIES

The rise in the price of a barrel of crude oil, which is practically at US$100, will allow oil companies with operations in the country to have a more robust cash to intensify exploration work.

This is the case of Ecopetrol, a company that is in charge of 80% of hydrocarbon production in the countryand that projects for this year the drilling of at least 24 exploratory wells, and that they will be located in the basins of the Piedemonte Llanero, the Middle Magdalena Valley and the Caribbean offshore.

However, the exploratory task of the national oil company will be long-term, since it has scheduled the drilling of 1,800 wells between exploration and development for the years 2022 to 2024.

(Read: Coking coal exports increased 26% in 2021).

“On average, between US$5.2 billion and US$6 billion will be disbursed annually by 2040. Between 2022 and 2024, organic investments will range between US$17 billion and US$20 billion, of which 69% will be allocated to projects in national exploration”, said Felipe Bayón, president of Ecopetrol.

For its part, Frontera Energy announced that it expects its capital expenditures for 2022 to be between US$340 million and US$395 million, taking into account an average Brent price of US$70 per barrel. This includes between US$225 million and US$255 million for exploration, production in the national territory.

ALFONSO LOPEZ