Jan. 6 (Bloomberg) -- Gran Tierra Energy Inc., a Canadian oil company drilling wells in southern Colombia, lost as much as 80 percent of its production since late November as protests over pyramid schemes shut down pipeline access.
Gran Tierra plans to restart production now that the general strike ended, Dana Coffield, chief executive officer of the Calgary-based company, said today in a telephone interview.
“We haven’t restarted operations yet but are in the process of starting to do so,” he said.
Ecopetrol SA, Colombia’s state-controlled oil company, closed a pipeline from the city of Orito in November amid a strike by local residents. Protests arose after the government moved to shut down local pyramid schemes.
Petrominerales Ltd., also of Calgary, said earlier today it is resuming work at some Colombian oil fields.
Drilling at Gran Tierra’s Costayaco field was also delayed by the strike, Coffield said. He declined to estimate the financial effect of the shutdown.
Gran Tierra produced 4,200 barrels a day of oil and natural gas liquids in the third quarter, according to a Nov. 6 regulatory filing.
“Ecopetrol said they were going to start opening the facility yesterday,” Coffield said, referring to a pipeline in Orito that moves oil from the Putumayo basin to market.
Closure of the Orito pipeline cut Petrominerales’s Colombian oil output by about 20 percent, Chief Executive Officer John Wright said at the time. Petrominerales is a subsidiary of Calgary-based Petrobank Energy and Resources Ltd.
To contact the reporter on this story: Steven Bodzin in Caracas at sbodzin@bloomberg.net. Last Updated: January 6, 2009 18:03 EST
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