By means of Resolution 40295 dated October 7th, 2020, the Ministry of Mines and Energy issued the technical guidelines to advance on the development of projects for the exploration and exploitation of hydrocarbons in Colombian off-shore deposits, seeking to promote a safe and sustainable development.
Accordingly, the Resolution will apply to operators and oil services contractors of offshore activities, whom will be deemed to perform all the activities in compliance with the Resolution and if the interested party would like to apply a different regulation, this shall be requested before the National Hydrocarbons Agency (ANH as per its acronym in Spanish), giving the technical reasons for this change.
The Resolution establishes, among others, the following technical criteria that must be taken into account and fulfilled by those interested in developing this type of activity:
Accordingly, the Resolution will apply to operators and oil services contractors of offshore activities, whom will be deemed to perform all the activities in compliance with the Resolution and if the interested party would like to apply a different regulation, this shall be requested before the National Hydrocarbons Agency (ANH as per its acronym in Spanish), giving the technical reasons for this change.
The Resolution establishes, among others, the following technical criteria that must be taken into account and fulfilled by those interested in developing this type of activity:
- Process Safety: Prior to initiating operations, the operators shall present the Program for Process Safety Management.
- Personnel Capacity: The operator must guarantee that its personnel has the certified experienced necessary to carry out activities, both for the safety of processes and for responding to emergencies.
- Well’s Drilling: All the drilling equipment shall comply with the provisions of the Code for the construction and equipment of mobile offshore drilling units. Additionally, all activities shall be are carried out under appropriate mechanical and structural conditions, thus guaranteeing the integrity of the well.
- Wells Intervention: In order to carry out any intervention activity, the operator shall file to the ANH the corresponding authorization request under the respective form 7CR.
- Wells Production: Prior to the production of a well, the operator shall present to the ANH the operations development plan, which shall include the basic information of the structure designs and diagrams.
Additionally, the Resolution establishes that the ANH, directly or through a third party, may carry out scheduled inspections of the equipment used within the operation, in order to verify compliance with the Resolution.
Finally, the Resolution sets a transition regime according to which the contracts currently in the exploitation phase must comply with the Resolution on matters related to the drilling, completion, and intervention of wells. However, the prior regulation will continue to be inforced for production activities.
Finally, the Resolution sets a transition regime according to which the contracts currently in the exploitation phase must comply with the Resolution on matters related to the drilling, completion, and intervention of wells. However, the prior regulation will continue to be inforced for production activities.
To download the newsletter, clic here: