Ecopetrol taking over Rubiales operations from Pacific in 2016

CHRISTINE JENKINS

BOGOTA, Colombia (Bloomberg) -- Ecopetrol SA said it will take over the operation of the Rubiales field, Colombia’s largest, at the end of its contract with Pacific Exploration & Production Corp. in mid-2016.

Colombia’s state-controlled producer announced its board’s decision to start operating the field, which provides Pacific with more than a third of its production, in a regulatory filing Monday. Ecopetrol had said in March that Pacific’s contract for the field wouldn’t be extended. At the time, Pacific had said that it could make a new proposal to keep running the prospect.

Pacific, which was previously named Pacific Rubiales, changed its name to reflect a broader Latin America focus.

Pacific’s proposals for the field had initially focused on the potential benefit of a proprietary technology called Synchronized Thermal Additional Recovery. The STAR system didn’t meet expectations during a pilot project, Ecopetrol said in 2014.