Huge Gas Field Discovered in Colombia

Colombia’s state oil company Ecopetrol and Brazil’s Petrobras announced Thursday two large gas deposits that could allow this Andean country to become energy self-sufficient.

Petrobras, which is working here in a consortium with Ecopetrol, has already mentioned in July and August the discovery of important deposits in the Uchuva-1 and Uchuva-2 wells (later named Sirius-1 and Sirius-2) in the offshore Guajira Basin, Colombia.

According to Petrobras Exploration Assets Director Rogeiro Suárez and a report by Italian news agency ANSA, “this project can guarantee energy security (of Colombia – ed.) for decades. Sirius has reserves equivalent to 170 million cubic meters of gas, a size comparable only to the Chuchupa field, which has supplied natural gas to Colombia for the past 45 years.”

The discovery came amid a lively debate in Colombia over the depletion of gas reserves and the resulting need for increased imports starting in 2025.

However, the local indigenous population may be an obstacle to the development of the new field. According to Petrobras, the first gas from these new sources could come between 2029 and 2030 with an expected production of 13.3 million cubic meters per day for 10 years. The expected investment is expected to be $5 billion.