Colombia's Ecopetrol to pre-pay $350 mln in bonds

BOGOTA, March 13 (Reuters) - Colombia's state-run oilcompany Ecopetrol will pre-pay $350 million worth of5-year international bonds in April, taking advantage ofavailable cash, the company said on Tuesday.

The debt, issued in 2013, will be paid to investors on April13, Ecopetrol said in a statement. Payment was originallyscheduled for September.

"It is expected the cash position of the company willcontinue at high levels of solidity, allowing it to confrontvolatility in crude prices, keep up investment in organic growthand have the possibility of potential inorganic growthopportunities for reserves acquisitions," the statement said.

The country's finance minister Mauricio Cardenas said lastmonth that Ecopetrol has between $4 billion and $5 billion incash in hand that could be used for additional repayment ofexternal debt.(Reporting by Julia Symmes Cobb; editing by Diane Craft)