Colombia, S. Korea firm defend Petro-Tech purchase
BOGOTA, Feb 11 (Reuters) - Colombia's Ecopetrol ECO.CN (EC.N) and South Korea's National Oil Corp (KNOC) on Wednesday defended their joint $900 million purchase of Peruvian oil company Petro-Tech after Peru's president ordered a probe into the deal.
President Alan Garcia asked Peru's Congress on Tuesday to investigate the sale of Petro-Tech, which faces an inquiry in a wiretapping scandal that led to the resignation of half of Garcia's cabinet late last year.
Prosecutors are looking into whether Petro-Tech executives were involved in disclosing audiotapes that linked a would-be competitor to corruption.
The Colombian and South Korean state-run oil firms welcomed a congressional probe and denied any wrongdoing.
"(We) think an investigation is a good opportunity to show that the operation was transparent and conducted within the law and in the interests of Peru," they said in a statement.
Each state energy firm agreed to pay half of the $900 million price tag for a 50-percent stake in Petro-Tech, which was owned by a private U.S. company, Offshore International Group.
It has shallow-water offshore blocks covering about 5 million acres in Peru and produces small amounts of oil and natural gas. (Reporting by Javier Mozzo; Writing by Helen Popper; editing by Jim Marshall)
