GeoPark cuts production guidance in Colombia
Latin America-focused upstream company GeoPark said July 22 it was revising its production guidance lower because of troubles in Colombia.
GeoPark in an operational update reported that its average oil and gas production in Colombia declined 5% from second quarter 2020 to 29,571 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boe/d).
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The company said that production in the second quarter was impacted by “extensive protests and demonstrations” that restricted everything from drilling to transportation.
Strikes across Colombia greeted an April tax reform proposal. Working to alleviate chronic debt, Colombian president Ivan Duque proposed a higher tax for middle- and high-income earners, sparking a major public backlash.
Protests that rocked the country from mid-May to early June blocked the transportation of crude oil, drilling equipment and personnel from reaching its operated Llanos 32 and other assets in the country. GeoPark was forced to curtail production starting in early May as a result, but said that production returned to normal in early July.
Nevertheless, the company revised its production guidance for the year lower, from a range of 41,000 – 43,000 boe/d to 38,000 – 40,000 boe/d, which it said was a result of protests in Colombia.
At its other assets, GeoPark reported that average net production from its Chilean operations decreased 17% to 2,584 boe/d due to lower output stemming from maintenance at two gas fields in the country.
In Brazil, the company said high demand facilitated a 206% increase in production, to 2,080 boe/d. Nearly all of that was in the form of natural gas.
In Argentina, output moved higher by 9% to 2,254 boe/d, with 58% of that as crude oil.
GeoPark releases quarterly results on August 4.