Pacific Rubiales Second Quarter Earnings Rise

Colombia's largest private oil producer, Pacific Rubiales, reported second-quarter net profit of $229 million on Thursday, more than three times than in the same period last year and helped by a jump in crude output to record levels.

Revenue in the quarter was $1.34 billion, 27 percent higher than the same period a year earlier. Adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) rose 19 percent to $722 million.

The company drilled nine wells in the second quarter in Colombia, Latin America's fourth biggest oil producer. Production rose 17 percent in the quarter over that period last year to around 149,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day.

"We continue advancing in diversification of production through the combination of strategic acquisitions and organic growth," Chief Executive Officer Ronald Pantin said in an earnings statement.

Pacific Rubiales operates the Rubiales field owned by state-controlled Colombian oil producer Ecopetrol and has sought to extend its concession to run it beyond 2016, when it expires, by demonstrating its STAR technology can boost recovery rates.

It says now-completed pilot tests have been successful, but the government says an analysis will be carried out to determine STAR's usefulness.

(Reporting by Peter Murphy; Editing by Jonathan Oatis)