Reliance Industries signs two exploration and production contracts in Colombia
11 Dec 2007
Reliance Industries Ltd's technical evaluation agreement, signed with Colombia's Agenda Nacional de Hydrocarburos (ANH) in 2005, have now matured in to a hydrocarbon production and exploitation contracts for two offshore blocks.
Reliance says the contracts for the two blocks, Borojo (pronounced as Boroho) North and Borojo South, will in due course be assigned to its wholly owned subsidiary, REP DMCC.
Signed on 10 December at Bogota, the capital of Colombia, the contracts envisage exploration of the two blocks located in the Pacific Ocean, west of Colombia in water depths reaching up to 1500 meters. Each block size is approximately 4,000 square km.
Reliance says it had carried out comprehensive geological studies before selecting these blocks.
The contract provides for a six year exploration period consisting of four phases of 18 months each, with exit right at the end of each phase. Reliance expects to drill up to two wells in each block apart from conducting seismic, multi beam and heat flow surveys in these six years.
The exploration budget for the two blocks is close to $50 million, in the next six years if not exited in earlier phases.