LatinNews Daily Report - 06 December 2013

ECONOMY | Ecopetrol says Caño Sur Este block commercially viable. In a 5 December press release Colombia’s state oil company Ecopetrol announced the viability of the oil block Caño Sur Este, in the southeastern province of Meta, which is estimated to hold a proven reserve of 22.4m oil barrels. The announcement by Ecopetrol, which is the sole owner of the block, comes after six years of exploration and is an important to address dwindling supplies. According to the release, Ecopetrol plans to drill 135 exploratory wells and invest US$656m in the block, with an estimated production of 25,000 barrels by mid-2016. Ecopetrol’s CEO Javier Gutiérrez Pemberthy said the find would “contribute to achieving Ecopetrol’s production target of 1.0 million clean barrels in 2015.”