The profits of Colombian oil company Ecopetrol increased 74% this year over the same period a year ago due to rising oil prices.
Ecopetrol, Colombia’s largest oil company reported $3.8 billion in profits this year, up significantly from $2.2 billion for the first half of 2010.
The company’s profits rose even more for the second quarter of 2011 increasing by 89% when compared to the second quarter of 2010. In June the company posted the highest profits ever for that month.
The higher profits were helped by increased production and favorable market prices. In the first quarter, Ecopetrol produced 707,000 barrels of oil a day, up 19% from last year, and in the second it produced 727,000 barrels of oil a day, up 22.3% from last year.
Colombia’s production currently only counts for a small percentage of the world’s oil supply, but is growing rapidly.