Colombia's ACP reveals 11-step oil sector action plan

Colombia's national oil association, the ACP, has an 11-step plan to tackle dwindling reserves and the country's current oil crisis, the group said in a release.

"During 2015 we have planned 91 exploratory wells, to meet with our reserve estimates we require 200 to 230 wells," said association president Francisco José Lloreda in a meeting with government officials.

Lloreda's proposed plan would reduce transport costs and improve exploration and production contracts, including the terms of offshore contracts.

To improve the current state of the oil sector he proposed reducing taxes and export tariffs on crude as well as speeding up the tax return process.

New projects should have different royalties and rules applicable depending on whether they are short-to-medium or medium-to-long term, the ACP believes.

The ACP calculated that Colombia has approximately six years of oil reserves and four years of gas, according to the release. Exploration and production has not been as high as planned for the first quarter of 2015, with the sector struggling to produce over 1Mb/d.

During January and February only 160km of seismic exploration was completed, 96% less than during the same period of the previous four years, Lloredo said.