Colombia to help finance oil exploration

Colombia plans to help private companies with the costs of exploring for oil in an effort to halt a recent drop in production that may turn this country from an oil exporter to a net importer, the president of state-owned oil firm Ecopetrol said Friday.

Isaac Yanovich said oil-exploration firms that do not have enough capital for the high costs of exploration in Colombia would be able to draw from the $100 million fund.