2009-01-28-2008-12-23-2008-12-23

Farm-in to drill 3 wells in GOM with 20-30% interest.

Ecopetrol SA, Bogota, Colombia, (NYSE: EC) has entered into a farm-in agreement with Norwegian StatoilHydro to drill wells in the Gulf of Mexico. Ecopetrol will have interests ranging from 20% to 30% in three exploratory wells in U.S. deep waters over the next two years. Preliminary evaluations indicate Ecopetrol's initial investment could be more than $160 million. As part of the deal, Ecopetrol and StatoilHydro have agreed to undertake a process for maturing several prospects during the next seven years. Ecopetrol says the agreement will help it diversify its exploratory risk and to acquire knowledge and technology for development of future deep water projects.