Offshore staff
CARTEGENA, Colombia --Royal Dutch Shell Plc, Exxon Mobil Corp, Anadarko Petroleum Corp, and Repsol SA were among the 19 companies bidding on 26 of 95 blocks offered by Colombia, Latin America's fourth-biggest oil producer, at its 2014 oil auction. The blocks are expected to bring in $1.4 billion in investment, the Energy Ministry and National Hydrocarbons Agency told Reuters.
Around 40% of the blocks were estimated to have been auctioned off, with some participants expressing surprise that there was not more interest in offshore blocks or high-risk high-reward areas.
"This is a round of frontier areas. Companies are cautious in frontier areas. These are very unexplored areas," Orlando Cabrales, vice minister for energy, told reporters.
On Aug. 11, the definitive list of winning bids and awarding of rights will take place, once offers have been certified. A preliminary list of eligible bids is expected to be issued on July 31.
07/24/2014
