US embassy cable - 05BOGOTA164

UNCLAS BOGOTA 000164 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: EPET, ECON, EINV, CO 
SUBJECT: CHEVRONTEXACO'S OUTLOOK ON COLOMBIA 
 
 
Sensitive but unclassified.  Business proprietary information 
-- please protect accordingly. 
 
1.  (SBU) Summary.  On December 22, Ambassador Wood met with 
ChevronTexaco's Chairman of the Board, David O'Reilly, and 
other ChevronTexaco executives to discuss oil and gas related 
issues in Colombia.  O'Reilly was pleased with the 
relationship between Colombia and ChevronTexaco, and said his 
company is interested in future gas projects, but concerned 
about the level of energy sector expertise in the Uribe 
Administration.  End Summary. 
 
2.  (SBU) ChevronTexaco's Chairman met with Ambassador Wood 
after earlier meetings with President Uribe and the Minister 
of Mines and Energy, Luis Ernesto Mejia.  O'Reilly stated 
that President Uribe was very enthusiastic about 
ChevronTexaco's current investment in Guajira and asked if 
more investment was coming.  O'Reilly responded that the 
investment process takes time, but that ChevronTexaco was 
interested in exporting gas to both Venezuela and Panama from 
its fields in the north of Colombia in the near term.  Per 
O'Reilly, Venezuela eventually would like to export gas to 
Asian markets via a pipeline to the Pacific. 
ChevronTexaco's president for Latin America, Ali Moshiri, 
stated that the Colombia-Venezuela gas project is simple in 
concept (200km onshore pipeline from Guajira, Colombia to 
Maracaibo, Venezuela).  Uribe and Chavez agreed at a 
political level to a gas pipeline project, but Venezuela has 
since requested more surveys and it was not clear that either 
leader had specifics in mind when they agreed to the project. 
 ChevronTexaco is also interested in a possible offshore gas 
pipeline to Panama. 
 
3.  (U) O'Reilly commented that the investment climate has 
dramatically improved, noting that under Uribe contract 
negotiations took less than three months as opposed to three 
years under other administrations.  Ambassador Wood added 
that the pro-business Uribe Administration has provided a 
predictable business environment in Colombia via reforms, 
especially in the hydrocarbon sector. 
 
4.  (SBU) O'Reilly relayed his concern regarding oil and gas 
expertise in Uribe's Administration.  He cited the GOC's 
willingness to explore and expand the hydrocarbon industry, 
but noted their lack of understanding of the technicalities. 
Ambassador Wood relayed President Bush's commitment to 
President Uribe to send an energy trade mission to Colombia. 
 
5.  (SBU) ChevronTexaco's chairman ended by saying there are 
many opportunities in Colombia, but the GOC needs in depth 
and objective technical advice regarding Colombia's future in 
the hydrocarbon sector. 
WOOD