very positive newsVery positive report on Columbia. that I read on another site
COMPANY NEWS
Reuters Summit-Colombia sees strong oil, coal growth in 2011
03/31/11 - 11:22 AM ET - Reuters
(For other news from the Reuters Latin American Investment Summit, click on
https://www.reuters.com/summit/LatinAmericanInvestment11?pid=500)
* Coal output seen at 87 mln T in '11 vs 74.35 mln last yr
* Oil production to hit minimum of 920,000 bpd at end 2011
* Colombia plans oil auctions by yr end or early 2012
By Jack Kimball
BOGOTA, March 31 (Reuters) - Colombian Energy Minister Carlos Rodado said that coal production would jump 17 percent to 87 million tonnes this year, reaching near the capacity limit of ports in the world's No. 5 coal exporter.
Colombia, a top producer of high-quality thermal coal, has seen a dramatic rise in production of coal, crude oil and minerals over the last decade as better security due to a U.S.-backed crackdown on rebels boosts investment.
"The increase in coal production this year is going to come from basically all the mines that are located in the northern part of Colombia, the departments of Guajira and Cesar," Rodado told a Reuters Latin American Investment Summit, referring to northern producers Cerrejon, Drummond and Glencore's Prodeco.
Rodado expects coal output of 93.6 million tonnes in 2012.
Colombia's energy and mining sectors have been a key factor for boosting economic growth in the last few years, drawing in billions of dollars in foreign direct investment and making up around half of all exports from the Andean nation.
Infrastructure bottlenecks and deficiencies are seen as the main problem for Latin America's No. 4 oil producer as it seeks to hike key exports like crude oil, coal and coffee.
"Certain bottlenecks have to be managed relating to the expansion of transport infrastructure, especially railroads and ports," he said. "We are convinced we'll be able to circumvent these difficulties so Colombia can really expand coal output."
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For more from the Latin American summit:
Graphic on oil output:
https://r.reuters.com/feb56r
Graphic on coal:
https://r.reuters.com/cyq87r
FACTBOX on Colombia coal ports: ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^>
The country's coal ports were nearing capacity and he expected their capacity to rise to 149 million tonnes by 2019 from 90.5 million tonnes currently, Rodado said.
"About 75 percent of port capacity is being used ... What this means is that there are warning messages that Colombia port capacity should be expanded," Rodado said, adding the most important expansions would be Cerrejon, Drummond and Prodeco.
NEW OIL ROUNDS, DISCOVERIES
Lower violence, better regulations and fiscal terms have attracted a wave of outside investors mainly into the petroleum sector, which has seen oil output hit historic highs.
State-run Ecopetrol has dominated the oil scene in Colombia while Pacific Rubiales , Gran Tierra and others have also invested heavily in the nation, where about 120 firms are working in oilfields.
Rodado said petroleum production should end 2011 at a minimum of 920,000 barrels of oil per day (bpd) from 860,000 bpd currently while gas would rise slightly to 1.25 billion cubic feet per day (cfpd) from around 1.17 billion cfpd.
Analysts say most of Colombia's increased production over the last few years is a result of better security and improved terms and regulations -- not major new discoveries. Experts say the country must find new reserves to keep up output levels and sustain its ambitious growth targets.
Rodado said that Colombia expects to sign more than 200 exploration and production contracts by the end of President Juan Manuel Santos' first term in 2014, and to dig over 550 wells in the search for more hydrocarbons.
"There will be a very intense exploration activity over the next five years. Investments will be around $1.5 billion, drilling wells to find oil and gas," he said.
Colombia has auctioned dozens of oil blocks over the last three years to try to boost exploration and production, and Rodado said that the government planned more auctions at the end of the year or early 2012.
"Colombia aims to find 500 million barrels annually in the coming years. That gives us, if not confidence, at least a reasonable peace of mind that the country will be able to sustain important levels of production," Rodado said. (Additional reporting by Luis Jaime Acosta; Editing by Gary Hill)