Brazilian state-run oil company Petrobras and Colombia's Ecopetrol said on Wednesday they have discovered natural gas at an exploratory well off Colombia's coast.
The Copoazu-1 exploratory well is located in Block GUA-OFF-0 in deepwater Colombia, about 36 kilometres (22.37 miles) from shore, the firms said.
The well is eight kilometers from the Sirius project, seen as key to increasing Colombia's limited gas reserves as the country has been forced to increase fuel imports to meet domestic demand.
"The discovery consolidates the gas-producing province and the hydrocarbon potential of this area," Ecopetrol said.
Petrobras said the discovery aligns with its strategy to replenish oil and gas reserves through frontier exploration and partnerships.
Ecopetrol holds a 55.6 per cent stake in the project, while Petrobras owns the remaining 44.4 per cent and acts as its operator.
(Reporting by Gabriel Araujo in Sao Paulo and Nelson Bocanegra in Bogota; Editng by Aida Pelaez-Fernandez)