Bond to remember that ECOPETROL owns a plan of investments for 2009 by an amount of US$ 6,224 million (35% more than in the 2008 and triple of the inverted thing in 2007), and will dedicate part of these resources to invest in Petro-Tech. In another one of the new features of the last days, ECOPETROL announced the increase of its participation in the Hard North blocks and the Strong South, in the Colombian Caribbean Sea. This increase in the participation takes place after an agreement with the Colombian subsidiary of BHP Billiton Petroleum Corporation (LSE: BLT; NYSE: BHP; JSE: BIBLT), that contemplates the allocation of 25% of the participation in both blocks of BHP Billiton for ECOPETROL. As a result of it, each company will have a participation of 50% on these blocks. These Hard North blocks and the Strong South correspond to contracts of the exploration and hydrocarbon operation, celebrated in April of 2006 by BHP Billiton and ECOPETROL with the National Agency of Hydrocarbons and to contracts of combined-arms operation celebrated by the parts in June of year 2007.
Both blocks, that they have approximated size of 954,050 hectares, coast outside in the Colombian Caribbean Sea is part of the located projects. Although in today the oil Colombian it had programmed to announce the results corresponding to the last trimester of 2008, this announcement was delayed for Tuesday 17 of February, although this delay responds to a smaller subject of conciliation of values. One of the produced facts of relevance in the last weeks is related to the modifications produced in the Code of Good Corporative Government. Although a smaller subject for some can be, these realised modifications tend to increase the transparency in the operating one of the company and its tie companies which represents an additional benefit for the investors, especially for the small ones, which the unfolding and projection of the oil one can monitor with greater facility.