The company plans to invest in the Barrancabermeja and Cartagena refineries. Credit: Juska Wendland.

Colombian oil and gas company Ecopetrol has outlined plans to invest between $3.5bn and $4bn next year as part of its strategy to improve reserves and production.

Approved by the company’s board of directors, the investment plan is 16% to 33% more than the projected 2018 figure.

More than 80% of the funds will be allocated to the company’s upstream projects, with 90% of the investments to be made in Colombia.

Production guidance for next year stands at 720,000-730,000 barrels of oil equivalent a day.

Ecopetrol will raise capital expenditure on exploration to more than $460m next year from $250m this year.

“Transported volumes are expected to be in line with Colombia’s expected crude oil production and the expected increase in demand for refined products.”

Approximately 8% of the aggregate capital investment will be used to position the company in the US, Mexico and Brazil.

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As part of the plan, the company will drill 700 wells and undertake at least 12 exploratory wells in onshore Colombia.

Ecopetrol will focus on developing gas discoveries in the offshore Colombian Caribbean. The company also has plans to conduct a pilot testing of non-conventional hydrocarbon reservoirs in the Middle Magdalena basin.

Meanwhile, in the downstream and midstream segments, the company will invest in the Barrancabermeja and Cartagena refineries, as well as the entire oil and polyduct pipeline network, to improve their efficiency.

The refineries are anticipated to have combined throughput of 350,000 to 375,000 barrels of oil a day.

Ecopetrol in a statement said: “The midstream segment is expected to continue strengthening profitability by leveraging on better-operating results and less capital employed.

“Transported volumes are expected to be in line with Colombia’s expected crude oil production and the expected increase in demand for refined products.”

The company expects to fund the investment plan using internal sources.