Ecopetrol S.A. reports that the Boranda-1 well discovered the presence of crude in the Magdalena Middle Valley, municipality of Rionegro, department of Santander.
The Boranda-1 well was at a depth of 3,657 meters, where the discovery of medium crude (20º API) was confirmed in the Esmeraldas formation, in four intervals of oil sands with a total thickness of 40 meters.
Boranda-1 is operated by Parex, with an interest of 50%, while Ecopetrol holds the other 50%.
The nearby crude receiving stations (Payoa at 30 km; Provincia at 40 km) and the Barrancabermeja refinery (90 km) afford it a competitive and operational advantage.
This new discovery forms part of Ecopetrol’s strategy. One of its focuses is on exploration in regions near production fields. Boranda is in the production range of the Aullador and Cristalina fields to the southwest, and Pavas-Cachira to the northeast.
Over the past four months the country’s s leading company has participated in deep-water discoveries in the Gulf of Mexico, the United States (Warrior) and the Colombian Caribbean (Purple Angel). In addition, its Hocol subsidiary announced the finding of Bullerengue Sur-1.
For 2017, Ecopetrol has an exploration budget of US$652 million, with which it will drill 17 wells directly and with partners; six will be drilled offshore, one in the Gulf of Mexico (United States) and the other five in Colombia; the remaining 11 will be in various regions of the country.
