Ecopetrol Starts GoM Production with Murphy Oil

Colombia's state-run oil company, Ecopetrol, said on Wednesday it has begun producing crude oil from two Dalmatian field wells in the Gulf of Mexico operated by its partner Murphy Exploration & Production Co.

The new output boosts production of its North American subsidiary, Ecopetrol America Inc, to 6,700 barrels of oil equivalent per day, the company said in a statement, from the 1,700 barrels it was producing before the new wells came online, according to Reuters calculations.

One well in Block 4 of the Canyon DeSoto is producing around 9,500 barrels equivalent a day, of which more than a quarter, or a net 2,441 barrels, belong to Ecopetrol. The well has been operating since June 13.

The other well, in Block 48 of the same field, is producing around 60 million cubic feet of gas per day, a net 15.6 million cubic feet of which belong to Ecopetrol. Ecopetrol's net production in crude equivalent from both wells is 5,041 barrels, the company said in a statement.

Ecopetrol, which produces more than half of Colombia's roughly 1 million barrels of oil a day, will release its second-quarter earnings on Thursday evening after markets close.

Murphy Exploration & Production Co is a unit of U.S.-based Murphy Oil Corp.

(Reporting by Peter Murphy; Editing by Steve Orlofsky)