ANH to Award Niscota Oil Block September 12th

The bidders are invited to place their offers in a ballot box during a public ceremony. ANH will then open bids and award the offer, in part based on which bidder gives Colombia's government the largest stake in production, an ANH official told BNamericas.

Depending on how much they produce, oil E&P projects in Colombia pay 5-25% in royalties and taxes combined plus US$0.10 a barrel.

The following nine companies have qualified to bid for Niscota: Colombia's state oil company Ecopetrol; Spain's Repsol YPF (NYSE: REP); UK- major BP (NYSE: BP); local firm Tepma; London-based Perenco; Colombian private oil company Hocol; Argentina's Pluspetrol; Canada's Talisman Energy (NYSE:TLM); and Russian giant Lukoil.

Niscota is in the Piedemonte area in Casanare department and potential reserves could be as much as 500 million barrels.

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