Colombia will conduct eight bidding rounds for new exploration areas over the next two years, the country's National Hydrocarbon Agency announced.

Two bidding rounds will be held this year, and they are re-offers of previously leased properties that have been returned.
The first, for the Niscota area in the Eastern Plains, will be formally announced in the next several weeks, said agency director Armando Zamora. BP withdrew from its option to explore the area in July, but the company has suspended drilling there in late 2003 after finding mostly water.
Colombia has had high hopes for the field, which once was seen as possibly holding as much as 500-million bbl of oil.
The second bidding process will be for exploration blocks in the Caribbean known as Tayrona and Fuerte, which were released by BHP Billiton.