Colombian national oil company Ecopetrol SA and a unit of Occidental Petroleum Corp. (Oxy) have signed a deal to jointly explore four deepwater areas in the Caribbean.

ecopetrol

Blocks COL 1, COL 2, COL 6 and COL 7 are located, on average, about 150 kilometers or 93 miles off Colombia’s northern coast.

The companies, which also have a joint venture in the Permian Basin of the United States, plan to conduct seafloor sampling and drill an exploration well as part of the latest agreement. 

The offshore alliance with Oxy subsidiary Anadarko Colombia Co. aligns with Ecopetrol’s 2040 “Energy that Transforms” strategy, CEO Felipe Bayón said Wednesday. The 2040 plan “seeks to maintain competitiveness in the hydrocarbons chain by increasing offshore exploration,” he...