Occidental was trading 1.35% higher on the TSE following the news.
The staterun oil company Ecopetrol said Monday said the discovery is Columbia's most important in the last 10 years.
Ecopetrol chief Alberto Calderon said on Columbia radio that two test wells had been sunk and eight more were planned over the next few months.
Columbia produced an average 805,000 barrels per day last year and that figure is due to slump below 800,000 bpd this year. Experts have said Colombia will become a net importer again by 2004 if no major new finds are made.
