DJ Colombia Stks Rise As Ecopetrol Announces Small Oil Discovery

BOGOTA, Apr 29, 2008 (Dow Jones Commodities News Select via Comtex) -- -- The Colombian stock index Tuesday rose, led by shares of state-owned oil company Ecopetrol SA (ECOPETROL.BO), which announced a small oil discovery.

The IGBC benchmark index rose 0.5% to 9,778.07 points, its highest level since Jan. 15.

The shares of Ecopetrol gained 4.5% to 2,565 Colombian pesos ($1.44) after the company announced a well drilled in the Tempranillo area in the Huila province in South-eastern Colombia yielded between 1,600 barrels a day and 2,400 barrels of crude a day.

The company currently produces about 400,000 barrels of oil equivalent a day, so the discovery is not really significant for the company, said Rupert Stebbings, a Medellin-based analyst with Interbolsa. "The stock is starting to trade on checks it cannot cash - great potential but a long way to go," he added in a report.

On the currency market, the peso weakened to COP1,782.3 to the dollar from COP1,768 Monday.

"The peso weakened as a lot of future contracts expired today," Eduardo Reyes, the head of research with the local unit of Tradition brokerage, said.

He said the flow of dollars related to foreign direct investment into the country keeps on pulling the peso stronger.

The yield on the benchmark peso-denominated TES maturing in 2020 rose to 11.014% from to 10.965% Monday.

-By Inti Landauro, Dow Jones Newswires; 57-1-600 19 80; colombia@dowjones.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

04-29-08 1641ET

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