By Hugh Bronstein
BOGOTA (Reuters) - Colombia's state oil firm, Ecopetrol, expects output to rise to 1 million barrels per day in 2015, from 400,000 bpd last year, helping the country put off becoming a net crude importer, the company said at the Reuters Latin America Investment Summit on Tuesday.
With fields under exploration off Colombia's Caribbean coast and internationally, company President Javier Gutierrez said production estimates are rising.
"Ecopetrol has a first-stage strategy of focusing on Brazil and Peru mainly (in terms of international activity). But we are also looking in other parts of the world, like the Gulf of Mexico," Gutierrez said.
A preliminary analysis is being prepared for expansion into Venezuela, Africa and Asia, but Gutierrez declined to say when Ecopetrol might go into those markets.
"We consider the Caribbean coast a very promising area that could start producing in about three years," he said.
This year's output is expected to be about 425,000 bpd, climbing to about 460,000 bpd in 2009, Gutierrez said in an interview.
Output estimates include the company's natural gas production. Ecopetrol accounted for 62 percent of Colombia's average crude production last year.
Gutierrez said Colombia is doing all it can to avoid becoming a net oil importer. Continued...
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