Amongst the top fifty oil and gas companies in the world, ECOPETROL is also the fourth largest in Latin America. In terms of raw revenue, including profile, EBITDA, assets and equality, ECOPETROL S.A ranks first in Colombia and has a presence in Brazil, Peru and the US.

WRITTEN BY JACK SLATER

NEVER TOO OLD TO GROW

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ECOPETROL S.A.0057 12344000

WWW.ECOPETROL.COM.CO

Listed on the Colombian Stock Exchange and with ADRs listed on the New York and Toronto Stock Exchange, the Republic of Colombia is a major shareholder of ECOPETROL with an

interest of 88.5%.

AN INTRODUCTION TO ECOPETROLAs the largest company and the principle petroleum company

in Colombia, ECOPETROL S.A belongs to a group of the 40 largest petroleum companies in the world and is one of the four principal petroleum companies in Latin America.

“We are the absolute owners, or we have the largest share of the transportation and refining infrastructure in the country,” they say on their website, “With the most geological knowledge of the different basins, a renowned policy of good neighbours among the communities where we perform our exploration and production activities for hydrocarbons.”

“We are well-known for environmental management and also in upstream and downstream, we have established business with the largest and most important petroleum companies in the world,” they add.

Having successfully discovered and established oil-producing fields in the areas central, south, west and north of Colombia, ECOPETROL makes use of two main refineries and a series of ports on both coasts for fuel exports and imports. Underlying all of this is a transportation network of some 8124km worth of pipelines and polyducts throughout the Colombian territory, which in turn link production systems with the large consumption centres and the maritime terminals of ECOPETROL.

Additionally, they say that they have at the disposal of their associates, the Colombian Petroleum Institute (ICP), which is considered to be the most complete scientific research and development laboratory facility in the country, holding more than a hundred years of geological data in the Colombian petroleum history.

Indeed since 1997 they have set a record for obtaining the highest profits of any Colombian company ever and in 2003 became a publicly held entity and set out to complete a transformation that would guarantee better and more competitive financial autonomy within the new organisation of the Colombian hydrocarbon sector, with the possibility of establishing commercial alliances outside the country.

In order to guarantee the transparency of their operations, as well as the flow and integrity of their information, ECOPETROL has adopted a Governance Code. All these things, their composite strengths and competencies have made them the leading company in Colombia and the optimum partner for hydrocarbon exploration and production.

DISCOVERYDiscoveries of new gas are always key to setting an industry alight

and as the oil price has been dropping, it is a welcome development, one that has instigated a busy period for ECOPETROL. Last year , in December, they announced the first hydrocarbon discovery in the deep waters of the Colombian Caribbean. The Orca-1 well, located in the Tayrona block, is a joint effort of three main partners; Petrobas, ECOPETROL and Repsol.

ECOPETROL S.A.

While the company does enjoy a strong footprint and a diverse offering, with an established presence in exploration and production, transportation and logistics, refining, petrochemicals and biofuels, they also have stakes in other companies, some of which are owned outright and others that are part-owned. Similar ‘power’ names in the petrol industry these businesses, like ECOPETROL itself, are standard and trend setters in their market places. Involved partly with E&P, Hocol, Savia, Equin, ECOPETROL America, ECOPETROL Brasil and ECOPETROL Germany GMBH, they also own Cenit outright, a major player in the transportation industry. In refining and petrochemicals they have shares in Reficar and Proplico and in biofuels, they own half of Ecodiesel and 91% of company Bioenergy.

The drilling reached a depth of 4,243 metres in water depth of 674 metres and was completed in September 2014. The confirmed accumulation of natural gas is 3,657 metres. The Tayrona block was the first contract granted in 2004, by the National Hydrocarbons Agency (Agencia Nacional de Hidrocarburos), for exploration in the Colombian Caribbean.

Orca-1’s results confirm the hydrocarbon potential of this Colombian frontier basin and demonstrate the capacity of the petroleum system in the deep part of the offshore basin. Following completion of this phase of exploration and initial tests, in-depth technical studies will begin to determine gas potential of the discovery. ECOPETROL is currently a participating partner in 13 offshore blocks in the Colombian Caribbean and a drilling campaign is planned for this basin that will include two wells in 2015 and two or three additional wells in 2016,with its partners.

NEW DEVELOPMENTS ABOUNDOn December 11th,2014, ECOPETROL’s Board of Directors

announced a succession plan for the company’s presidency, which has been held by Javier Gutierrez since 2007. The process of selecting the next president of ECOPETROL will be led by the

Board, with the assistance of an international executive search firm.The hope is that the result of the transition and handover

between the current president and his successor can be finalised and reported on at the next ordinary meeting of the Shareholder General Assembly. The company will remain under the leadership of Javier Gutierrez until the presidential succession is completed.

The Board of Directors would like to specifically acknowledge the outstanding human and professional qualities of Mr. Gutierrez, as well as his achievements during his term as president. He led ECOPETROL’s transformation into the Colombian company with the highest number of shareholders, with a global presence and industry recognition. Under his direction, the company doubled hydrocarbon production, helping Colombia to become one of the top 20 oil producers in the world and significantly increased revenues transferred to the state, allowing for more effective social investment programs in the country.