Mr. Gabriel Romero
Conexión Medios S.A.
Reference: Request for information from Conexión Medios regarding the Tua access gate
Dear Mr. Romero,
In response to the request made by the media outlet you represent regarding the Tua access gate, we would like to indicate the following:
Firstly, the gate controlling access to Tua is located within an easement on the “Los Mararabes” property dating from 2013 in favor of GeoPark Colombia so that it may carry out its activities in the Llanos 34 Block. This right is given within the framework of the hydrocarbon exploration and production contract that the Company signed with the National Hydrocarbons Agency.
Accordingly, GeoPark holds the right to use the easement where the gate is located, giving it the legal attribution to control the access to and security of its operation at Tua.
The Company’s answers to the media outlet’s specific questions are provided below.
- Does GeoPark keep the road closed?
This road, for which GeoPark has an oil easement, controls access to the Tua and Jacamar locations.
- Did GeoPark build the gate-like metal structure that is at the entrance?
Yes. In its capacity as the operator of the exploration and production contract for the Llanos 34 Block and by virtue of the aforementioned easement, the Company built the gate to guarantee the safety of its operation.
- Does GeoPark know who controls access to the road?
GeoPark controls access to the Tua and Jacamar locations through its security contractor, whose employees are mainly from the village of Piñalito Alto.
- The Tauramena Municipality Infrastructure Department, in an official letter dated July 31, 2024, replied to a request for information from Timoleón Cárdenas, president of the Piñalito Alto Community Action Board (JAC), as follows:
“There is a tertiary municipal road, called RAMAL A PUERTO MIRIAM, identified with the code 85410-079, built by the municipality in 2004.”
According to the response provided by GeoPark, which mentions an easement dating from 2013 in the “Los Mararabes” property and which grants GeoPark the right to build and control the Tua access gate, the following question arises: Is this gate located on the same road that the Secretariat of Infrastructure of Tauramena identified as tertiary road 85410-079, built in 2004?
GeoPark does not know the exact details of the specific query to which the Infrastructure Department replied in association with the stated code. However, the gate was built on the oil easement in favor of the Company on a private property, and is intended to control and guarantee access and security of the location.
- Is the easement for the use of the access road to the Tua location constituted between GeoPark and the owners of the Los Mararabes property and whoever intervenes in this easement?
Yes, the gate is located within the area of the easement constituted on the signing of the transaction contract with the owner of the “Los Mararabes” property.
We appreciate your contact and are available to specify any additional information.
Sincerely,
GeoPark Colombia S.A.S.
