Colombia’s state-run oil company Ecopetrol said Wednesday that it will

begin fracking operations in the United States.

Ecopetrol’s fracking operation will be carried out in a joint venture with

US oil company Occidental Petroleum in Midland, a major oil region in
the Permian Basin between Fort Worth and El Paso in Texas.

The fracking operation is Ecopetrol’s first and “in line with our new
strategy,” Ecopetrol CEO Felipe Bayon told press.

This is a milestone for Ecopetrol because we are

entering the major leagues of Non-Conventional
Deposits, we will increase our reserves and
production, and we will consolidate our knowledge in
this technology together with a first class partner.
Ecopetrol CEO Felipe Bayon

Ecopetrol has been looking for oil exploration outside of Colombia and
has expressed its desire to begin fracking as Colombia’s proven oil
reserves in Colombia are running low.

Through its cooperation with Occidental, Ecopetrol said it gained access

to a proven oil reserve of 160 million barrels, a 10% increase of its current
oil reserves.

According to the oil company, it believes it can extract 20,000 barrels a

day later this year already and raise this to 100,000 barrels a day in 10
years.

Furthermore, the company will be able to gain experience in fracking,

which it has so far not been allowed to do in Colombia due to the
controversial technique’s environmental impact.