Colombia Auctions Hydrocarbon Blocks

Colombia’s national hydrocarbon agency, ANH, is on a roadshow to market 228 onshore and offshore hydrocarbon exploration blocks that will be awarded in June. Armando Zamora, ANH director, tells LatinFinance he expects about 40-50 of the blocks to be licensed, which could draw investment of $200m-$500m for exploration alone. Zamora expects average production of oil in Colombia to surpass 800,000 barrels per day this year, up from about 675,000 in 2009. The roadshow will stop in Canada, the UK, Spain, Brazil, Australia, Thailand and China.