London-listed Calgary oil company Solana said it has a gusher in the in southern Colombia, where a Chaza Block wildcat well in the Putumayo Basin has struck oil.

Operator Gran Tierra Energy is Solana’s 50-50 partner at the well, which gushed to 5,900 barrels per day after 155 feet of “perforations”. The Costayaco-1 well was the culmination of a “four formation, six zone cased hole testing program” that started 10 June 2007.

The absence of water suggests Costayaco could well be a producer, although a well in October aims to check for structure size. “The magnitude of this discovery will require dedicated facilities and a pipeline to fully exploit,” a statement said.

Costayaco-1 is the company's second area discovery after Juanambu-1.