Piedecuesta, April 17 2015. Ecopetrol S.A. (BVC: ECOPETROL; NYSE: EC; TSX: ECP) reports that the Colombian Superintendence of Industry and Trade granted a patent for a system for plugging leaks in pipelines and fluid transport pipes.

The patent, the first awarded to Ecopetrol in 2015, is an improvement to the dosing device and procedure for plugging branches in fluid transport pipelines, which already had an initial patent in Colombia, Mexico, Nigeria, Russia and the United States. This new equipment requires low maintenance; it is easier to operate and increases process efficiency.

This development is part of the technology package of the project to reduce fuel theft in Colombia, which already has 11 patents to date.

The initiative was launched more than a decade ago to counter the scourge of fuel theft that represented annual losses of over US$120 million to Ecopetrol.