Colombia 's struggle to reach the crude-oil production milestone of one million barrels a day took another step backward Wednesday as the government said output averaged 896,000 barrels a day last month, the lowest level since September.

February's output represented a 3.9% increase from the 862,000 barrels a day of crude-oil output in February 2011, the Mines and Energy Ministry said in a statement. But last month's production is 5% below January's average output of 941,000 barrels a day and 7% below November's record monthly average output of 965,000 barrels a day.

In explaining the lower output versus that of recent months, the ministry noted problems last month in transporting crude oil, "especially [on] the Cano Limon system," referring to Colombia's second-longest pipeline. The pipeline, operated by Colombia's national oil company Ecopetrol SA (ECOPETROL.BO, EC), has been blown up by leftist guerrillas more than a dozen times this year, according to local officials, forcing it to be shut down for several weeks at a time.

Colombia has seen massive inflows of foreign investment to develop its oil and natural-gas industries as a result of the government's market-friendly policies and its success over the past five years in gaining control of territory once held by Marxist guerrillas.

This has allowed oil production to ramp up steadily, nearly doubling output from six or seven years ago.

But leftist guerrilla groups and other criminal gangs remain a force to be reckoned with, and the increased drilling in far-flung locations has only created more targets for the rebels.

Recent protests by local communities in rural areas where drilling takes place have also slowed down oil output this year. The local communities are upset over several issues, including new rules on how royalties are distributed.

On Tuesday, Mines and Energy Minister Mauricio Cardenas said that, despite the challenges, Colombia will reach the oil-production goal of one million barrels a day in a matter of days or weeks. The ministry statement said the country on one particular day--Feb. 29--produced 969,000 barrels of crude oil.

Διαβάστε ακόμα