Under the waves of the Caribbean Sea, ancient sedimentary layers deep in the earth's crust are quietly rewriting the energy map of South America. When the drill pipe penetrated the silence of the thousand meter deep sea, a blue airflow from the Earth's interior was awakened. This was not only a breakthrough in resources, but also a echo of the two countries' energy giants joining forces to tap into the treasures deep in the continental shelf.

As the leading state-owned energy company in Brazil, Petrobras has discovered new natural gas reserves in the waters off Colombia, further expanding South American energy reserves.

Basic Overview of New Gas Well Exploration

This natural gas resource comes from the Sandia-1 exploration well in the deepwater GUA-OFF-O block near Colombia. The well is about 42 kilometers away from the coast, with an operating depth of 1251 meters. It is about 18 kilometers away from the Sirius-1 discovery well and the Sirius-2 evaluation well, and about 9 kilometers away from the Copoaz ú -1 natural gas discovery well. The project is operated by PIB-COL, a Colombian subsidiary of Petrobras, as a consortium with a 44.44% stake; The partner, the National Oil Company of Colombia, holds 55.56% of the equity. Sandia-1 well started drilling on June 12, 2026 and reached the final design depth on July 29, 2026.

Hardware strength of drilling platform

The project uses Noble Discoverer's sixth generation semi submersible drilling platform, which was built in 2009 and belongs to the DSS 21 column stable dynamic positioning model. The subsidiary of Petrobras Colombia will lease the equipment for offshore drilling in December 2023 and extend the service contract for 390 days in April 2025. The maximum operating water depth of the platform can reach 3.05 kilometers, and the maximum drilling depth is 12.19 kilometers, with the ability to conduct deepwater and ultra deepwater oil and gas exploration operations. Keywords: Colombia offshore, natural gas, oil and gas, energy

Resource potential and strategic value

Petrobras stated that this exploration breakthrough confirms the natural gas potential in Colombia's offshore waters, and the addition of new resources will enhance regional energy security. The project adheres to operational standards throughout the entire process, taking into account personnel safety and ecological protection. At present, the gas bearing reservoir has been analyzed through logging data, and the resource volume and quality will be evaluated through laboratory testing in the future. The exploration of the GUA-OF-O block is in line with the company's long-term strategy, relying on new area exploration and external cooperation to supplement oil and gas reserves and adapt to the global energy demand during the energy transition stage. The National Oil Company of Colombia also stated that this discovery confirms the natural gas prospects in the Caribbean Sea, and the offshore exploration results are evident, which is expected to enhance the local natural gas supply level in Colombia.Editor/Gong Ziwei