GeoPark to access $500 million from Vitol in return for oil deliveries

(Reuters) - GeoPark has struck a deal to sell a minimum of 20,000 barrels of oil per day to Dutch commodities trading firm Vitol, receiving access to up to $500 million in funding in return, the Latin American oil and gas producer said on Thursday.

As part of the agreement, Geopark said it will obtain immediate access to up to $300 million from Vitol and will have an option to increase the funding by another $200 million.

Reuters was unable to confirm what the funds will be used for.

The deal to sell oil, which comes out of its Colombia project, will begin on July 1 this year and will last for a minimum of 20 months, GeoPark said, adding that it is likely to go up to 36 months.

The agreement improves GeoPark's price realizations by $0.15 per barrel compared to the current agreement, GeoPark said.

(Reporting by Chandni Shah in Bengaluru; Editing by Janane Venkatraman)