Bogotá: Colombian officials on Thursday said that offshore oil exploration data stolen from a government agency last week would have little actual use to anybody.
Thieves in Bogota have raided the offices of Colombia’s National Hydrocarbons Agency (ANH), making off with information about the country’s offshore oil explorations.
Among the items stolen were discs containing seismic data belonging to Spanish multinational Repsol SA and Canada’s Canacol Energy Ltd. He discs all contained information about oil exploration in a block in Colombia’s Caribbean region.
“The information in question is of use only to the operating company because it refers to the area it was assigned, over which it has exclusive exploration and, eventually, exploitation rights,” said a joint statement from the Energy and Mines Ministry and the National Hydrocarbons Agency (ANH), which was the scene of the crime.
The ANH chairman said his agency had already changed its security procedures to prevent future thefts.
