Ecopetrol, Colombia’s state oil firm, has secured four new blocks for deep-water exploration in the US Gulf of Mexico, according to Reuters.
The blocks will be developed in partnership with Spanish energy giant Repsol and the award allows the two companies to explore the blocks for a five-year period.
Named Garden Banks 77, 78, 121 and 122, the blocks are at water depths of around 240 metres.
Ecopetrol already has production in the Gulf of around 12,000 barrels per day and the new blocks are close enough to existing facilities to allow for convenient linkup and speedier moves to production if discoveries are made.