Douglas Correa
Reporter - Agência Brasil

Rio - At a meeting in Bogota on Tuesday (19) with the president of Colombia, Álvaro Uribe Velez, the president of Petrobras (Brazilian Petroleum S.A.), José Eduardo Dutra, reaffirmed the interest on the part of the Brazilian state enterprise in increasing its investments in that country.

According to Petrobras's press office, Dutra informed Velez that preliminary technical studies in the 45 thousand square kilometers area under contract to the company in Tyrona, in the Caribbean Sea, reveal favorable prospects. This is expected to be Colombia's first experience in deep-sea petroleum exploration and production.

In its 18 years of activity in Colombia, Petrobras has invested around US$ 600 million and is currently involved in exploration and production in 12 blocks. In 2000 Petrobras made the biggest discovery of petroleum in Colombian territory in the last 15 years, the Guando production field.

Petrobras Colombia is responsible for 11% of Colombia's overall daily petroleum production of 50 thousand barrels, generates 1,500 direct jobs, and is considered an international management model by the Colombian National Association of Petroleum Engineers.

Translation: David Silberstein