BUDGET AND EXPLORATION PROGRAMS Clause Samples

BUDGET AND EXPLORATION PROGRAMS. According to the provisions of this contract, THE ASSOCIATE shall be responsible for preparing the programs, activity schedule, and budget to be executed in the short term (the following calendar year), and the plan for the following two (2) years, under the estimated budget, to carry out the exploration in the Contracted Area. Said plan, programs, schedule, and budget shall be submitted to ECOPETROL, for the first time, within the sixty (60) calendar days following the execution of this contract and, subsequently, no later than 15 December every year. Every six months, THE ASSOCIATE shall deliver to ECOPETROL a technical and financial report listing the different exploratory activities performed, the area’s prospects based on information acquired, the allocated Budget and the exploration costs incurred up to the date of the report, along with the comments on the reasons for any deviations. At ECOPETROL’s request, THE ASSOCIATE will provide explanations on the report at meetings summoned to this end. The information presented by THE ASSOCIATE in the reports and aforementioned explanations shall, in no case, be understood as accepted by ECOPETROL. The financial information will be subject to auditing by ECOPETROL within the terms established in Clause 22 of Annex “B” (Operation Agreement) of this contract.