Ecopetrol Buys 30% of Peruvian Block

Colombia’s Ecopetrol has agreed to acquire a 30% stake in an oil and gas exploration and production license in Peru from Spain’s Repsol. The deal involves participation in block 109 located in Peru’s Amazon jungle region, the companies say. Officials at Repsol and Ecopetrol declined to offer a total price tag for the deal but they said no advisors were involved in the transaction which was handled by the company’s own executive teams. Peru’s 109 block was originally assigned to Repsol by the Peruvian government in December 2005 and so far the venture, which involves an area of 357,200 hectares, is still in the exploratory stage. Ecopetrol already has a presence in the Andean country through participation in 4 blocks in partnership with Repsol and Argentina’s YPF.