Colombian state-owned company Ecopetrol SA has confirmed the discovery of oil and gas at its Alqamari-2 well in Orito, Putumayo.
The Alqamari-2 well was drilled at a depth of 2.8 kilometers (9,287 feet) in the Putumayo basin, where hydrocarbons were found with a daily flow rate of more than 1,800 barrels of oil, Ecopetrol said in a statement press Thursday The discovery included light oil and gas amounting to 825,000 cubic feet per day, according to the release.
Ecopetrol’s discovery “has a great competitive advantage as it is located in an area close to fields in production and existing infrastructure”, the company said. In addition, discovered resources could quickly migrate to reserves, contributing to Colombia’s production, the company added.
Alqamari-2 is located in an area of direct operation of Ecopetrol. The company has 100 percent of the rights to the Western Area Exploitation Agreement signed with the National Hydrocarbons Agency, according to the statement.
Carbon offset milestone
In a separate press release, Ecopetrol said it reached the 10 million barrel milestone in sales of carbon-offset crude oil in the Asian, European and North American markets.
The compensation covers the direct carbon emissions generated throughout the life cycle of Ecopetrol products, from production to transport. Carbon offsets were derived from high-quality verified climate solution projects, such as forest restoration, tree planting, and the conservation of the Neotropical high mountain or paramos biome, wetlands, and savannas, among other actions that they aim to avoid greenhouse gas emissions and increase carbon sequestration, Ecopetrol said.
The volume of carbon-offset crude traded so far offsets approximately 379,000 tons of carbon dioxide equivalent, the same level as reducing emissions from the deforestation of nearly 9,000 hectares of mangrove forest on the Colombian coast over 10 years , said Ecopetrol.
“This milestone highlights Ecopetrol’s commitment to its TESG [technology, environment, social and governance] agenda and reinforces its position as a leader in the Voluntary Carbon Market and the commercialization of Colombian crude oil at a global level”, said Pedro Manrique, Vice President of Commercial and Marketing of the Ecopetrol Group. “We continue our commitment to sponsoring innovative solutions that simultaneously address the needs of our customers, the global climate agenda and the company’s 2040 strategy.”
Ecopetrol sold four million barrels of carbon-offset crude last year and aims to at least double that number by 2023, the company said.
Financial results
Meanwhile, Ecopetrol reported consolidated net income of $1.3 billion (COP 5.3 trillion) for the second quarter of 2023, a decrease of 54.3 percent compared to consolidated net income of $2.8 billion (COP 11.5 trillion ) of the second quarter of 2022, according to the company’s latest quarterly report.
Ecopetrol’s revenue for the quarter totaled $8.5 billion (COP 34.3 trillion), down 21.8% from $11 billion (COP 43.9 trillion) in the year-ago quarter. The company attributed the decrease primarily to the decline in the weighted average selling price of crude oil, gas and products, due to the reduction in Brent benchmark prices and a weakening of the differentials of refined products against Brent, especially the of fuels, which had reached record amounts in the second quarter of 2022.
“In market terms, during the first half of the year, several factors affected the price of crude oil, including the possibility of a recession in the developed world, high interest rates and banking pressures in the United States , and the economy. slowdown in China,” Ecopetrol President Ricardo Roa Barragan said in the report. “However, our operational resilience and the strategies we have implemented to seize opportunities through market diversification and efficiency and synergy in our operations have allowed us to successfully face these challenges.”
“In terms of production, we reached an average of 728.0 mboed [thousand barrels of oil equivalent] in the quarter, an increase of 23.4 mboed compared to 2Q22. Of note is the contribution and incremental production in the Caño Sur and Rubiales fields in Colombia and the Permian in the United States. This allowed us to offset the impact of physical security situations and third-party blocks that occurred during this period. Likewise, we have continued to advance in our decarbonization initiatives, registering a total reduction of 141 thousand TCO2 equivalent for the first semester of 2023”, added Barragan.
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