Royal Dutch Shell PLC (RDSA) will likely bid for the oil and gas exploration rights to be awarded in July, the oil company's top official in Colombia said Thursday.

"We are evaluating, but we will very likely participate in the round," said Eduardo Rodriguez, chief executive of Shell's Colombian unit, in an interview.

Rodriguez said there is a good environment in Colombia for the company to seek and extract oil or gas because of the economic stability, transparency with contracts and benefits for the oil industry.

As many as 228 blocks covering close to 60 million hectares have been put up for international tender by the Colombian government this year in all areas of the country except the Amazon basin. The government will open the auction in June and expects to award the land plots to oil companies in July.

Shell may team up with some other partner, he said.

The oil company has been exploring in Colombia since 2006 in three areas in partnership with state-controlled oil company Ecopetrol SA (ECOPETROL.BO). In one of the three areas, Cano Sur, located in the Meta province, the partners plan to drill as many as nine exploratory wells.

Shell also makes and sells motor oil in Colombia . Its sales fell 4% in 2009 from 2008 to about $125 million and Rodriguez said he expects sales to stay at that level in 2010.

Rodriguez said modern vehicles consume less motor oil, so a sales increase is unlikely despite the economic recovery.
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