Colombia's Ecopetrol 3Q Net Income Climbs 146%

Colombia's state controlled energy company Ecopetrol SA (EC, ECOPETROL.BO) reported strong third-quarter net profits Monday, fueled by higher oil prices and rising production.

Net profits last quarter were 4.2 trillion Colombian pesos ($2.24 billion), a 146% jump from COP1.7 trillion in the third quarter last year.

"The company again reached historically high operating and financial results," said Ecopetrol President Javier Gutierrez in a statement.

The company's earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, or Ebitda, was COP7 trillion last quarter, an 80% jump from a year earlier, the statement said.

Ecopetrol's production, without its affiliates, rose to 677,500 barrels a day of oil equivalent in the third quarter, a 13% gain from that quarter of last year, the company said.

Analysts attribute the increased oil output by Ecopetrol to higher recovery rates in mature fields and new projects coming online.