BOGOTA May 8 (Reuters) - Colombia's majority state-owned

energy company Ecopetrol has held talks with big players ahead

of a potential bid in an offshore wind auction organized by the

country's government, Chief Executive Ricardo Roa said on

Wednesday.

Roa was speaking during a call with analysts regarding the

company's financial results for the first quarter of 2024, where

net profit dropped 29% to 4.01 trillion pesos ($1 billion) on

the back of lower sales and a reevaluation of the country's

peso.

Earlier this week the company told Reuters it was conducting

technical, economic and legal analyses of potentially

participating in an offshore wind auction process to award areas

and licenses in the country's Caribbean region.

"We've already made some contact with very large players in

the world who have the capacity and knowledge for this type of

technology development," Roa said during the call.

Referring to the company's fossil fuels business, Roa said

Ecopetrol was considering buying gas assets in Colombia from

Canadian operator Canacol amid the growing concern that

Colombia will lose gas self-sufficiency in five years.

"This asset will be observed within the internal procedures

and protocols for analyzing these investment opportunities

within the Ecopetrol group," Roa said, adding that other assets

not owned by Canacol could make worthy investments.

Canacol did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Last year, Ecopetrol said it was considering importing gas

from Venezuela, which Minister of Mines an Energy Andres Camacho

supported as a low-cost solution to Colombia's looming gas

problems.

Ecopetrol continues to hold conversations with the U.S.

Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC)

regarding sanctions and restrictions imposed on the Venezuelan

government and the country's state-owned energy giant PDVSA, Roa

added.

($1 = 3,884.84 Colombian pesos)