Ecopetrol S.A. Announces Results of the Company's Annual General Shareholders' Meeting

BOGOTA, March 25 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Ecopetrol S.A. (BVC: ECOPETROL; NYSE: EC; BVL: EC), Colombia's integrated oil and gas company, announced the resolutions which were approved by the Company's Shareholders at the Company's Annual General Shareholders' Meeting, held today in Bogota.

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The main resolutions were:

• Approval of the reports presented by the CEO and the Board of Directors.

• Approval of the Company's financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2009.

• The distribution of an annual per share dividend payment of COP$91. The ordinary dividend will be distributed in three installments as follows: COP$31 per share to be paid from April 25, 2010, COP$30 per share to be paid from August 25, 2010 and COP$30 per share to be paid from December 15, 2010, to shareholders who are of record ten (10) stock business days before the relevant payment date.

• The election of the following members to the Board of Directors: Minister of Finance, Minister of Mines and Energy, and Director of Planning Department, all of them representing the Government of Colombia; and of the following independent members: Mr. Fabio Echeverri Correa, Mr. Joaquin Moreno Uribe, Mr. Ignacio Sanin Bernal, Ms. Maria Elena Velasquez, Mr. Mauricio Cardenas Santamaria and Mr. Amylkar Acosta Medina.  

• The election of PRICEWATERHOUSECOOPERS LTDA (PWC) as Statutory and External Auditor of ECOPETROL S.A. and its affiliates.

• Authorization for increasing the current ceiling for non-convertible bond issuance by COP$5.5 trillion. Bonds can be placed in Colombia and/or abroad in one or several issuances in the following years, according to the requirements of the investment plan, market conditions, as the grant of authorization by the Board of Directors and government entities competent to that effect.

The complete agenda and all related materials concerning the Company's Annual General Shareholders' Meeting are available on the Company's website: www.ecopetrol.com.co.

Ecopetrol is Colombia's largest integrated oil company and is among the top 40 oil companies in the world and the four largest oil companies in Latin America. Besides Colombia, where it accounts for 60% of total production, the Company is involved in exploration and production activities in Brazil, Peru and the United States (Gulf of Mexico). Ecopetrol has the principal refinery in Colombia, most of the network of oil and multiple purpose pipelines in the country, and it is considerably increasing its participation in biofuels.

This release contains forward-looking statements relating to the prospects of the business, estimates for operating and financial results, and those related to growth prospects of Ecopetrol. These are merely projections and, as such, are based exclusively on the expectations of management concerning the future of the business and its continued access to capital to fund the Company's business plan. Such forward-looking statements depend, substantially, on changes in market conditions, government regulations, competitive pressures, the performance of the Colombian economy and the industry, among other factors; therefore, they are subject to change without prior notice.

SOURCE Ecopetrol S.A.