Chevron closes Colombia natural gas field

OREANDA-NEWS. August 28, 2015. Chevron has closed its Riohacha gas field in northern Colombia following significant production declines associated with high water levels.

"Riohacha field was closed at the request of the operator, given the strong increase in production of water," Colombia's National Hydrocarbons Agency (ANH) tells Argus.

Chevron, in partnership with Ecopetrol, operates the Guajira association gas contract, which includes Ballena, Chuchupa and Riohacha fields.

ANH says that water production at Riohacha grew from 3 bl/1,000 cf to 37 bl/1,000 cf, "which caused an increase in the hydrostatic column weight, extinguishing the well."

Riohacha shows no production since April, compared with a 2014 average of 19.1mn cf/d, according to recent figures from ANH.

Ballenas and Chuchupa were producing around 450mn cf/d in June, according to ANH data, after peaking in 2010 at a total of 684mn cf/d, according to Colombia's oil and gas business group ACP.

ACP tells Argus Chevron's gas fields are mature and the industry has been anticipating their decline.

Riohacha, located on the northern Caribbean coast, could be optimized, says ANH.

Chevron officials were not immediately available to comment.

Colombia reported 966mn cf/d (27.35mn m?/d) natural gas output in July, down by 6.6pc from 1.035bn cf/d in June and below the 2015 year-to-date average of 1.034bn cf/d.

Colombia had a gas reserves-to-production ratio of 13.2 years at the end of 2014 with 5.9 tcf.