BP Colombia Gas Operations Back To Normal As Workers End Strike

10th Jun 2010 23:04

BOGOTA (Dow Jones)--BP PLC (BP) operations in Colombia's Cusiana gas field are back to normal as workers have ended a two-week strike, the union and a company official said Thursday. A group of protesting workers began the strike last month over pay, and had blocked access to BP operations in the field. Daniel Rico, a member of the union's negotiating team, and Poly Martinez, a spokeswoman from BP, said the strike ended over the past long weekend. Negotiations will resume Tuesday, Rico and Martinez said. The workers are employed by BP's contractors building a plant to process natural gas. The new plant is expected to boost output in the Cusiana field to 300 million cubic feet a day, up from the current 230 million cubic feet a day. Workers are demanding higher wages, though BP says the contractors are paying reasonably well. Rico said salaries are as low as 515,000 Colombian pesos ($262) a month, while Martinez said no one earns less than COP1.1 million a month. Gas output continued normally during the strike, despite the blockade. During the two-week strike, there were several clashes between workers and the police, with no injuries. BP operates the gas field in partnership with Colombian state-controlled oil company Ecopetrol SA (ECOPETROL.BO, EC) and French oil company Total SA (FP.FR, TOT). BP owns 31% of the field, while Ecopetrol owns 50% and Total owns the remaining 19%. The gas-processing plant will cost about $200 million, Martinez said, and it is entirely financed by Ecopetrol, though BP will be operating it and using it to ship its gas to the country's pipeline network for domestic consumption. The project was scheduled to be finished by October or November, Martinez said, but the project will probably be at least one month late. BP also produces about 67,000 barrels of crude a day from the Cusiana field. -By Inti Landauro, Dow Jones Newswires; 57-1-694 00 76, [email protected] (END) Dow Jones Newswires June 10, 2010 18:04 ET (22:04 GMT)