RE:RCE3 and Oso PardoJust received this from CFO:
Marshall, Gage, Giovanni and I met with the ANH president and her advisors on Wednesday morning last week. The meeting went very well. We discussed the Oso Pardo extension. The president explained that there have been some delays due to the changes that have taken place at the ANH due to the Federal elections. The ANH asked us for some additional paperwork, that we are currently working on. They told us the additional paperwork would “speed up the process”. They did not give a date or time when we might expect an answer back from the ANH on the Oso Pardo extension, but they did give us indications that it could be soon.
We do know that the ANH is working on some new legislation regarding unconventional development in Colombia. That effects the VMM2 field, where the Oso Pardo extension is, as Conocophillips and Canacol own the unconventional rights on that field. The ANH believe that the legislation will take a “couple of months”.
My own thoughts are that the new ANH President does not want to make a decision until this legislation is finalized. My best guess is that this is a Q2 event – but that is only a guess.
The majority of the rig that will be used for RCE-3, 4 and 5 has arrived at the pad and is being constructed. There are a few parts of the rig that are still being transported. You have probably read about some new protests in Colombia which are resulting in roadblocks. One of these roadblocks is slowing down the arrival of some parts of the rig. We expect the roadblocks to be taken care of very soon because the government is now talking to the protesters. I expect we could see a delay of a few days on the spud date, but nothing material.
Hope that helps. Let me know if you have any additional questions. Thanks again for your interest.
Joe