Ecopetrol estimates that commercial fracking could increase Colombia’s reserves in up to 15 years – AméricaEconomía

Commercial fracking in Colombia could increase the South American country’s oil and gas reserves by 12 to 15 years, state oil company Ecopetrol estimated Thursday, which expects in June to issue a decision on the suspended environmental license for a hydraulic fracturing pilot. The project.

Supporters of hydraulic fracturing, also known as hydraulic fracturing, say its production is key to increasing Colombia’s dwindling energy reserves, which are less than seven years old, while opponents warn of pollution and denounce threats against environmentalists.

The State Council, the country’s highest administrative court, has cleared the pilot research projects of Ecopetrol and its partner Exxon Mobil Corp., while it considers whether to allow commercial development.

The National Environmental Licensing Authority issued a license for the Kalé pilot project in March, but a judge later ordered its suspension on the grounds that local communities had not been properly consulted.

The ruling, which Ecopetrol has appealed, also ordered that a local Afro-Colombian group be consulted on the Platero pilot project.

Ecopetrol’s director of foreign affairs, Catalina Velasquez, told Reuters on the sidelines of a seminar on hydraulic fracturing pioneer projects.

Gabriel Compariza, the company’s vice president for unconventional energy deposits, told reporters that if pilot projects lead to commercial fracking, Ecopetrol could develop 150 to 200 wells with this technology in the Magdalena Medio.

The characteristics observed by Ecopetrol in the area indicate that “these wells will have between 1.1 million and 1.2 million barrels per well or less in their useful life, as it is approximately 20-25 years,” the oil-controlling official explained. It is the state.

“We are talking that this could increase the horizon of reserves between 12 and 15 years,” he concluded.