CARTAGEMA, Colombia (DOW JONES)--The Colombian oil licensing
agency ANH on Wednesday released the results of the auction of
exploration rights for 95 areas across the country.
The companies that filed the highest bids for the areas included
Royal Dutch Shell PLC (RDSA), France's Etablissements Maurel et
Prom SA (MAU.FR) and Canada-listed Gran Tierra Energy Inc. (GTE,
GTE.T). Shell presented the highest bid on two blocks, Maurel et
Prom on one and Gran Tierra on three.
Among highest bidders also were Ecopetrol SA (EC, ECOPETROL.BO),
which teamed with Spain's Repsol YPF SA (REP, REP.MC) and South
Korea's SK Energy (096770.SE) in some blocks, Pacific Rubiales
(PEGFF, PRE.T) and Canacol Energy (CAAEF, CNE.V), among others.
Colombia's National Agency of Hydrocarbons, or ANH, had put up
more than 200 blocks for auction and received offers for 95. In
total, companies made a commitment to invest more than $1 billion
in exploration in those blocks, he said.
-By Inti Landauro, Dow Jones Newswires; 57-310 867 65 42;
colombia@dowjones.com