BHP Billiton Petroleum Acquires Exploration Rights in Llanos Basin

BHP Billiton Petroleum has acquired exploration rights to an onshore block of approximately 7.75 million acres in the Llanos Basin in Colombia. The company signed a technical evaluation agreement with the Agencia Nacional de Hidrocarburos to explore block CPE-5.

BHP Billiton holds a 71.4% interest in the block and is the operator. SK Energy holds the remaining 28.6% interest. The technical evaluation agreement is based on an exploration program to be undertaken by the company over a three-year period. It includes seismic acquisition and processing and exploration drilling.

Steve O’Rourke, president of exploration at BHP Billiton Petroleum, said: “We are extremely pleased with this result. The Colombian government ran a very successful bid round and the Agencia Nacional de Hidrocarburos recognized that this type of frontier exploration requires access to large acreage tracts.”