Overview of private entities in Colombia

Around 150 oil and gas firms were operating in Colombia in 2011.

According to President of the Council of the Americas Eric Farnsworth, because many of the oil fields in Colombia are small, the major players tend to be independent oil companies, with the exception of partly state-owned Ecopetrol. In a 2011 interview he said the three largest producers in the country were Ecopetrol, Pacific Rubiales (Canada) and Occidental (US). Other Canadian companies, local Colombian companies, British Perenco and Brazilian Petrobras are also among the top 10 producers.

In a 2008 interview, Dr. Armando Zamora, Director General of the National Hydrocarbons Agency (ANH) listed six things he believes companies look for when they are looking for when making international investment decisions:


 * Prospectivity
 * Fiscal regime
 * Economic stability
 * Legal stability
 * Political stability
 * Personal safety

In Zamora's opinion, Colombia is competitive in all of these issues, but there was some work to be done before investors could be calmed over the issues of 'political stability' and 'personal safety'.

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