Navigate this market better. Subscribe for FREE stock alerts and information.

Friday, July 15, 2011

Colombia to auction 12,000-bpd refinery in mid-Aug, (ECO), (NYSE: EC)

Colombia will auction off in mid-August the 12,000 barrel-per-day Refinare refinery with a starting price of $99 million, the company liquidating the assets said on Friday. Latin America's No. 4 oil producer has two main refineries and three smaller ones with a total capacity of around 350,000 barrels per day (bpd) almost all of which is in the hands of state oil company Ecopetrol (ECO.CN)(EC.N). Refinare closed down in the early 2000s over allegations it was involved in the illegal sale of gasoline of which it was acquitted years later -- the company entered into receivership, said an official with the firm liquidating Refinare's assets. Companies from the United States, Europe, Colombia and other Latin American nations have expressed interest in the refinery, said Juliana Garcia, who works with the liquidator.

ECOPETROL S.A. (Ecopetrol) is engaged in the development of Colombia or abroad, of commercial or industrial activities corresponding to or related with exploration, production, refining, transportation, storage, distribution, and selling of hydrocarbons, their by-products and associated products, and of subsidiary operations, connected or complementary to these activities in accordance with applicable regulations. Shares of EC fell by 0.24% or $-0.1/share to $41.00. In the past year, the shares have traded as low as $31.12 and as high as $51.92. On average, 360844 shares of EC exchange hands on a given day and today's volume is recorded at 162318.



Source