Petrobras, Ecopetrol aim to triple Colombia’s gas reserves with offshore discovery

(Bloomberg) – Colombia’s biggest offshore natural gas discovery by Petrobras and Ecopetrol SA could triple the country’s reserves if the deposit is commercially viable, potentially easing the nation’s shortfall.

The Sirius-2 exploration well has confirmed more than 6 trillion cubic feet of natural gas in place and could lift Colombia’s reserves by 200%, Petroleo Brasileiro SA, the operator of the project, said on Thursday. Petrobras expects to confirm the commercial viability of the discovery by 2027, and then it would take three years to reach first production after getting the project licensed.

If the project goes forward, it could produce 13 million cubic meters a day for 10 years, nearly half of Colombia’s current domestic demand, and there are no plans to export any of the gas.

“We’ve spent 20 years looking for the biggest reservoir in the country, and today we are announcing it,” Ecopetrol Chief Executive Officer Ricardo Roa told reporters on Thursday.

Colombia this month started facing a shortfall of natural gas, and deepwater wells like Sirius-2 are its main hope to reverse the situation. Roa said the company is reducing its natural gas consumption to ease the deficit, and also has plans to build a liquefied natural gas facility to increase imports.

The project should be enough to avert a shortfall when it comes on line, but that depends on domestic gas production at the time because some of the existing wells are in decline, according to Rafael Guzman, Ecopetrol’s vice president for hydrocarbons.

For Petrobras, Colombia represents one of its most promising exploration projects in recent years. It is rapidly expanding existing discoveries in deep waters of Brazil, but its overall production is expected to go into decline around 2030 unless it finds more oil and gas.