BOGOTA (Reuters) -Colombia's state-run energy company Ecopetrol ECO.CN expects to execute about $6.3 billion in investments in 2025, equivalent to 90% of its target, executives from the company told Reuters in an interview on Thursday, adding it could close the year with five additional exploratory wells drilled.

The company earlier on Thursday reported a 30% year-on-year drop in net profit in the third quarter, to 2.56 trillion pesos ($689 million), citing weaker sales volumes and lower crude prices. Its production slipped 0.4% to 751,500 barrels of oil equivalent per day compared with the same period in 2024.

The company has already met its goal of drilling ten exploratory wells in 2025, but sees the chance to drill five more, hydrocarbons vice president Rafael Guzman said.

"We expect to complete the three wells that were being drilled at the end of the quarter, finish them by year-end and we have options to drill a couple more," Guzman said.

Investment will nearly reach the company's target, chief financial officer Camilo Barco said. 

"For this year we had an approximate budget of $6.3 billion, with flexibility of $500 million," he said. "That investment plan is 72% complete and we expect to reach about 90% execution by year-end."

"There may be some level of under-execution, which we estimate could be around 5%," Barco added.

The company expects to end 2025 with cash of between 12 trillion and 14 trillion pesos.

Ecopetrol is set to announce a partner to help it up production at one of its fields before year-end, vice president of strategy Julian Fernando Lemos said.

"As part of our strategy to increase activity in fields where we believe - and are sure - there is potential to keep operating and producing crude, we aim to bring in partners under a structure similar to the one we used last year with Parex," Lemos said.

The company is limited by confidentiality agreements, he added, but "what we seek is to attract investment in fields and areas where Ecopetrol does not necessarily focus its investment today, but where we believe there is potential for recovery, higher output and reserve additions."