Colombian Judge Blocks Oil Site Project

A Colombian court has ordered Occidental Petroleum Corp. to halt all work on a promising oil site that the country’s native U’wa tribe claims as part of its ancestral lands. Alberto Calderon, president of state oil company Ecopetrol, said the court injunction was handed down Thursday and would effectively block, if upheld on appeal, what he described as “the most important oil prospect this country has.” Calderon said the so-called Samore block in a guerrilla-dominated area of northeast Colombia “could generate nearly $900 million a year.” Los Angeles-based Oxy has contended that the proposed drilling site is outside U’wa ancestral lands and that the dispute must be settled by Colombia and the tribe. Oxy officials could not be reached for comment late Friday. The U’wa, who vowed five years ago to commit mass suicide if the company went ahead with its project, have blockaded the test drill site since November.