UPDATE 1-Colombia's Ecopetrol, Anadarko make biggest gas find in 28 years
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BOGOTA May 3 Colombian state oil company Ecopetrol said on Wednesday it has discovered gas at an exploratory well it shares with U.S.-based Anadarko Petroleum Corp in deep waters in the Caribbean Sea, creating the possibility of developing a production cluster.
President Juan Manuel Santos said it was the biggest gas find in Colombia in 28 years and will allow the Andean nation to be energy self-sufficient for the coming decades.
Ecopetrol and Anadarko made the discovery in areas located between 3,675 and 4,415 meters below sea level in the south Caribbean Sea, close to the Kronos-1 and Purple Angel-1 wells in adjacent blocks.
"The presence of a set of gas fields in the area opens the possibility for Colombia to develop a cluster specialized in gas production, which would allow sharing of facilities and improve the profitability and efficiency of the projects," Ecopetrol said in a filing with the financial regulator.
The Gorgon-1 exploratory well is part of the Purple Angel block.
Ecopetrol said the three projects cover an area of about 14,000 square kilometers.
"This discovery allows us to further expand the Colombian market for natural gas, an economic and environmentally friendly fuel," Santos said in a televised address.
Ecopetrol is among the top four oil companies in Latin America, with operations in Colombia, Brazil, Peru, and the United States in the Gulf of Mexico. (Reporting by Nelson Bocanegra and Helen Murphy; Editing by Jeffrey Benkoe)