Occidental Petroleum’s decision late last month to abandon exploration at its Siriri field in northeastern Colombia brought sighs of relief from leaders of the 7,000-member, nature worshipping U’wa tribe, but it worried energy experts who say Colombia will run out of oil—its No.1 export—by 2005. Colombia’s government had hoped a major discovery at the Siriri field, formerly known as the Samoré block, would yield 1.3 billion barrels in new reserves and $14 billion in oil exports for the nation over the next 25 years. The company’s announcement that it had found natural gas and condensates, but no oil, and would remove its equipment from the site while it further evaluated the project disappointed drilling advocates. They fear that Colombia’s once-promising... [Log in to read more]