Colombia posted record oil output of 953,000 barrels a day in August, a year-on-year increase of about 21 per cent, official data showed on Thursday, as the key sector continues to boom.

Mines and Energy Minister Carlos Rodado told reporters the figure was a “favourable sign” that the country could attain its goal of reaching the million-barrel-a-day mark by year’s end. Colombia produced 930,000 barrels a day in July.

The centre-right government of President Juan Manuel Santos sees the oil industry as a key driver of economic growth, and is aiming to raise crude output to 1.15 million barrels a day by the end of his term in 2014.

Until relatively recently, Colombia’s oil potential had been little explored, in part because of the insecurity related to the civil war waged by leftist rebels. Oil production in Colombia has been bolstered by new stimulative fiscal policies that since last year have ushered in favourable tax policies for oil and gas producers.

Colombia is now the third-largest oil producer in South America after Venezuela and Brazil.