DR NEWS
Ecopetrol, Colombia’s state-controlled oil company, which sold a 10.1% stake to the public last year, has become only the second company based in Colombia to list American depositary receipts on the New York Stock Exchange. Bancolombia was the first.
Ecopetrol recently signed an agreement with Brazil-based Petrobras to jointly explore and produce oil and refined products. The largest company in Colombia, Ecopetrol acquired its first producing assets outside of the country in September, when its US subsidiary paid $510 million for a 9.2% interest in a deepwater oil and gas field located south of New Orleans in the Gulf of Mexico.
The Bogota-based company’s ADR is the first NYSE-listed program by a Colombian company in more than a decade. Ecopetrol selected J.P. Morgan as depositary bank for the Level II program. Each ADR represents 20 common shares, which trade on the Bolsa de Valores de Colombia.
Ecopetrol’s initial public offering in November 2007 was limited to Colombian nationals, with a maximum purchase of $700 per person. Approximately 500,000 people purchased shares after standing in line in supermarkets around the country. The company intends to create an international profile and could sell an additional 9.9% stake in a share offering contemplated for 2010.
Ecopetrol is currently producing 440,000 barrels of oil per day, and its goal is to produce 1 million barrels a day by 2015.
Gordon Platt
