PELE Petrolatina

RNS Number:5869N
Petrolatina Energy PLC
11 December 2006



                             PetroLatina Energy Plc

                        ("PetroLatina" or the "Company")



                     Rio Zulia - Ayaccucho Pipeline Update





Petrolatina Energy Plc ("PetroLatina" or the "Company") an independent oil and
gas exploration, development and production company, focused on Latin America,
is pleased to announce that EcoPetrol SA (the Colombian State oil company) and
PetroBras Energie Internacional, (one of the world's leading oil and power
companies) have signed an agreement to develop the Tibu Field in Northern
Colombia, which is expected to lead to a significant increase in the flow of oil
through and revenue from the Company owned Rio Zulia Ayaccucho pipeline (the 
"Pipeline").



Tibu Field



Under the terms of the announced contract, the partners in the project will
invest US$40 million over the next two and a half years and, accordingly,
estimate that oil production from the Tibu Field will rise to 15,000 barrels of
oil per day ("bopd") from its current level of 1,800 bopd. Under the terms of
the existing transportation agreement, this would increase PetroLatina's net
income from the Pipeline to US$6.0 million from its current level of US$1.5
million per year.



The development agreement is also expected to lead to confirmation of reserves
in the Tibu Field of an estimated 100 million barrels.



Rio Zulia Field



In addition to the above agreement, Ecopetrol SA have also commenced an extended
exploration drilling programme near their Rio Zulia Field and in close proximity
to the Pipeline. This drilling programme is expected to commence in 2007 and if
successful is also expected to increase significantly the flow of oil through
and revenue from the Pipeline.



The Pipeline currently transports an average of approximately 2,800 bopd from
the Rio Zulia and Tibu Fields in Colombia.



Rio Zulia - Ayaccucho Pipeline



The Pipeline was acquired as part of the acquisition of Petroleos del Norte
S.A.("PDN") in June 2006.



The Pipeline has a design capacity of 25,000 bopd. Success during the initial
development phase of the Tibu field will bring the pipeline close to full
utilization.



Based on an external evaluation carried out at the time of the acquisition of
PDN, US$10 million was attributed to the value of the Pipeline given its
prevailing throughput. The underlying value of the Pipeline will therefore
increase with the additional throughput usage.







Nicholas Gay, President and CEO, commented:



"At the time of the acquisition of PDN, we saw the Pipeline as a hidden source
of value. One of the keys to unlocking this was the development of the Tibu
Field. This development and the recently announced Serafin Gas project starts to
highlight the true worth of the PDN acquisition to create early revenues and
long term cash flow for the Company."



                                     -ENDS-

                                                              11th December 2006


For further information, please contact:


PetroLatina Energy              Nicholas Gay        nicholasgay@petrolatinaenergy.com      +44(0)2072974360
www.petrolatinaenergy.com

Pelham Public Relations         Charles Vivian      Charles.vivian@pelhampr.com            +44(0)2077436672


                                Philip Dennis       philip.dennis@pelhampr.com             +44(0)2077436363








                      This information is provided by RNS
            The company news service from the London Stock Exchange
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