Ecopetrol takes full control of Rubiales field, output to rise 60,000 bpd

BOGOTA, June 30 (Reuters) - Colombia's Ecopetrol SA ECO.CN
said it will take over full operations on Friday at the Rubiales
oilfield, the country's largest, in a move set to increase the
state-run oil company's overall output by 60,000 barrels a day.
The midnight takeover of a 43 percent stake previously held
by Canada's Pacific Exploration PEGFQ.PK will give Ecopetrol
complete control over a field in which it had held a 57 percent
share.
Rubiales, located in Meta province some 250 kilometers (155
miles) southeast of the capital Bogota, produces 135,000 barrels
per day (bpd) of crude oil and employs 344 workers.
The handover comes as Ecopetrol is selling off non-oil
related investments amid low global prices for crude which have
hit national income in the Andean country. Pacific is in the
midst of a complex restructuring.
"This means Ecopetrol will increase its production by some
60,000 per day," the company said in a report.
Ecopetrol produced 736,600 bpd in total across all its
fields in the first quarter.
So long as oil prices do not fall below $45 a barrel
Rubiales will be profitable, Ecopetrol's vice-president for
eastern regions, Nelson Castaneda, told journalists on Thursday.
The largest costs for the operation are transport across the
field's nearly 57,000 hectares (141,000 acres) and the dilution
of crude, Castaneda said.
Ecopetrol announced early last year it would not extend
Pacific's contract to operate the field in a bid to increase its
own output. Pacific said in a statement on Thursday that it had
invested more than $5 billion in the camp since 2007 and
perforated more than 1,000 wells.
Ecopetrol is Colombia's largest company and produces a
majority of the country's oil. It also operates in Brazil, Peru
and the United States.
Next week the company will also take over operations at the
Cusiana field in Casanare province, which produces an average of
7,573 bpd.
So far this year average oil output in Colombia is 933,575
bpd, according to the mines and energy ministry. The country has
2 billion barrels of reserves.