The company last Friday signed contracts with Colombia’s national hydrocarbon agency, Agencia Nacional de Hidrocarburos (ANH), which allow for oil and gas E&P from two offshore blocks in the South American country’s Caribbean sector.

BHP Billiton holds a 75% interest in each block and is the designated operator. Colombia’s state-owned oil company Ecopetrol owns the remaining 25% interest.

The two contracts, Fuerte Norte and Fuerte Sur, each cover about 1.2 million acres and are in water depths ranging from 50 to 2700m. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

“We are pleased to expand our portfolio into the southwestern Caribbean sector,” said BHPB president of exploration & business development for petroleum Steve Bell.

“Our interest in this acreage not only matches our company’s core competencies in deepwater exploration globally but also the knowledge and experience we’ve gained in the Caribbean region through operations in Trinidad and Tobago.”

This transaction follows on from a technical evaluation agreement previously agreed with the ANH in 2005, which enabled BHPB to study and assess about 3.75 million acres offshore Colombia for exploration and development opportunities.

BHPB has had a long-standing relationship with the resources industry in Colombia, producing energy coal from the Cerrejon mine and nickel from Cerro Matoso SA.

“Our conversion of our technical evaluation agreement into an exploration license within 12 months reflects our ability to leverage our diversified portfolio of existing businesses to create opportunities across the group, as well as the success of ANH in promoting oil and gas investments in Colombia,” Bell said.