Question-and-Answer Session
Operator
(Operator Instructions) Your first question comes from Neal Dingmann - Wunderlich Securities.
Neal Dingmann - Wunderlich Securities
A couple of questions; what do you see as far as ramping back the pipeline, what does that look like now, and is that just sort of temporary damage, what are we looking at today?
Dana Coffield
Yes, it is temporary, but I don’t have any specific schedule for when it will be repaired. In fact I had thought it would be repaired before this point in time. All I can say is that a comptroller is working very diligently to get it back online, but I don’t have a specific schedule.
Neal Dingmann - Wunderlich Securities
Okay, and may be I haven’t seen it yet Dana, any outline, you have now outlined kind of the exploration program for most of next year, any idea on CapEx ?10 versus ?09?
Dana Coffield
I don’t have a specific number for next year; we’ll do our 2010 budget in November. So, I’ll have a real number then, but I would assume our CapEx budget next year will be lower than this year, assuming no exploration success because we did have a lot of development capital this year in the Costayaco Field which we will not be seeing next year unless we make a discovery and then of course we will revise a budget accordingly.
Neal Dingmann - Wunderlich Securities
That’s I guess where I was going with that CapEx, you don’t anticipate as many or I guess as much sort of on the infrastructure and some of the cost that you incurred this year, you don’t see as many of those next year would be more just on pure exploration side.
Dana Coffield
Correct.
Neal Dingmann - Wunderlich Securities
Okay, and then just kind of a question, just wondering, it seems now you’ve matched obviously between Colombia and Peru, and even have done Argentina, obviously a pretty divers and large block, just wondering the rationale, I know in the past I have heard you comment about Brazil, wondering, what are the plans there, and I guess number two, why look there, I guess any time near term given everything you have.
Dana Coffield
We are looking new venture opportunities all the time, and that includes Colombia, Peru, Argentina and other parts of the world, although to be fair we are focusing on Latin America. If you look at the different countries in Latin America, if we were to do a new country entry, Brazil is the only one that makes sense and that it has stable regulatory environment, stable government, attractive fiscal terms and such.
- To read the full transcript on Seeking Alpha, click here »



