After the 27th session of the Board of Directors of the National Hydrocarbons Agency ("ANH") held on December 17, 2020, on February 11, 2021, the ANH issued Agreement 03 of 2021, which approved the model contract (convenio) applicable to the exploration and exploitation of hydrocarbons in remaining areas from association contracts to be signed exclusively with Ecopetrol (the "Agreement"). 

In this regard, it is worth noting that as established by Decree-Law 1760 of 2003, the production rights in the fields that Ecopetrol was operating as of the date of issuance of said decree under association contracts will remain and are part of Ecopetrol's patrimony. Thus, once the association contracts are terminated, the rights over the production of the respective area and the movable and immovable assets related to such contract will continue to be held by Ecopetrol, for which purpose, ANH and Ecopetrol must enter into contracts (convenios) in which the conditions for exploration and exploitation of such areas are defined.

Considering the foregoing, the execution of the contracts (convenios) is exclusive to Ecopetrol as a state-owned company, and therefore, it is not a direct allocation of areas or through bidding processes, nor a procedure that may impact free-market competition.

The model of the contract approved by the Agreement is available at the following link: 
https://www.anh.gov.co/normatividad-es#Acuerdos