France's Total, Europe's third-largest oil company, said it will sell a 5% interest in Colombia's Oleoducto Central SA (Ocensa) oil pipeline to Colombia's Petrominerales for $281 million. The pipeline has capacity of 560,000 barrels per day, or about 60% of the South American country's daily output.
Total (TOT) and Petrominerales expect the transaction to close by July 20. The Colombian company will use its stake in the pipeline to reduce expenses related to shipping oil by truck. The pipeline starts at the Cusiana and Cupiagua fields and terminates at Colombia's Caribbean Sea port of Covenas, according to Oil & Gas Journal.
Ocensa carries oil from Colombia's Llanos Basin, home the bulk of the country's oil production. Last year, Ecopetrol (EC), Colombia's state-controlled oil producer, said it is working with international partners on a pipeline with 450,000 barrels per day of capacity that will cost an estimated $4.2 billion.
Colombia's National Hydrocarbons Agency said the country's production reached 923,000 barrels per day last month, according to the Oil & Gas Journal. The country is South America's third-largest oil producer behind OPEC member Venezuela and Brazil.
Home
Peak Oil Facts
