The Colombian Petroleum Institute (ICP, for the acronym in Spanish), reported US$18.7 million in proven benefits resulting from the projects executed in 2005 in coordination with the different Ecopetrol business areas.

This figure is higher by US$2.2 million than the results obtained in 2004.

Its infrastructure of 24 laboratories and 29 pilot plants generated productivity of $20.796 billion, the highest figure in ICP history, resulting from services rendered to Ecopetrol direct operations, associates, and oil sector companies, and from the development of new projects and lines of investigation.

Some of these benefits came from high impact projects at Ecopetrol, such as the optimization of mature fields, the segregation of crude oil to increase added value to Colombian crude, the reduction of hydrocarbon lost in transportation, the optimization of the refineries and their processes, improvements in geological modeling, and the reduction of exploration risk.

In the area of exploration, during 2005 the ICP came up with a table for biochronological characterization to determine the geological age of the Oligocene strata at the Piedemonte Llanero, which complements the Paleocene table developed in 2004. The aim of these tables is to reduce exploration risk. Its application was in evidence last year at eight Ecopetrol exploration prospects, which found this tool to be the most adequate manner for positioning the drill-bit during drilling activities, making decisions about the casing points, and completing the wells.

Additionally, Ecopetrol worked on improving 2- D seismic imaging, the basis for improving the 3-D image, and new methodologies were developed in the geochemical modeling applied at Piedemonte.

These methodological achievements resulting from ICP research are being used in practical applications such as support to the different prospects and in modeling for the Toledo and Caño Sur blocks and other prospecting areas in the Middle and Upper Magdalena Valleys, as well as on the Colombian offshore.

Support from the Institute contributed to up scaling the Castilla field, in Meta, to a new high in production of 60,000 barrels a day and the recovery of reserves of nearly 1.5 million barrels of crude oil.

The ICP also offered specialized support for optimizing mature Ecopetrol fields through the analysis and implementation of hydraulic cracking technologies, advanced completions, in-fill drilling, reservoir characterization, optimization of injection/production systems, damages to formations, chemical stimulation, and evaluation of surface facilities.

These actions reduced the curve in the decline in Ecopetrol fields and in those where there is third-party participation.

2005 was ICP’s year for implementing technological developments in refining. The application of rigorous simulation models to operate the refining units, with the objective of higher performance was begun.

The institute also contributed with tool development, with the assessment and definition of paraffin diets, and with crude oil blends to control equipment corrosion and maximize the refining margin. It contributed improvements in product quality, the valuation of flows, control of sources of pollution and emissions, the selection of catalysts, and the integrity of equipment.

These initiatives during 2005 translated into a refining margin of US$11.37 per barrel and a business profit of around US$150 million.

As far as transportation is concerned, the greatest achievement was the reduction of hydrocarbon loss based on several new technological developments, producing nearly US$8 million in savings in 2005.

The team of experts also worked on the crude oil segregation project. The objective of that project is to generate added value for the range of Colombian crudes offered. The first results were evident in the Vasconia blend and the better use of larger volumes of heavy paraffinic crude oil in Colombia.