(WSJ) Pacific Rubiales Energy Corp announced today the closing of the previously announced sale of its 5% interest and transportation rights in the Oleoducto Central S.A. (OCENSA) oil pipeline in Colombia for a total cash consideration of U.S.$385m to a consortium led by Darby Private Equity, the private equity arm of Franklin Templeton Investments.

The investment was made by Darby’s Fondo de Infraestructura de Transporte de Colombia and includes three co-investors. The OCENSA pipeline interest and transportation rights were acquired by the Company as part of its previously announced acquisition of Petrominerales Ltd., which closed on November 28, 2013.

The transaction included the sale of the 5% equity interest in the OCENSA pipeline, along with the accompanying transportation capacity rights, including current and future capacity expansions. The Company has entered into a ten year agreement to secure transportation capacity for a take-or-pay incremental charge in addition to the regulated tariff on the pipeline.

Ronald Pantin, the Company’s Chief Executive Officer, commented:

“We are pleased to have closed this important transaction as it further illustrates the underlying value of the Petrominerales acquisition, in addition to reserves and production. The Company is also advancing the negotiations and sale process of approximately a 38% interest in its 100% wholly owned Pacific Midstream Holding Corp., which currently holds the Company’s ODL and Bicentenario oil pipeline interests as well as the PEL power transmission line assets. Proceeds from the sale of these assets will be used to pay down debt and buy-back stock. Additional midstream asset sales are expected in the future, allowing the Company to generate unrecognized cash value while retaining the strategic value of these assets, through long-term capacity agreements.”

Pacific Rubiales, a Canadian company and producer of natural gas and crude oil, owns 100% of Meta Petroleum Corp., which operates the Rubiales, Piriri and Quifa heavy oil fields in the Llanos Basin, and 100% of Pacific Stratus Energy Colombia Corp., which operates the La Creciente natural gas field in the northwestern area of Colombia. Pacific Rubiales has also acquired 100% of Petrominerales Ltd, which owns light and heavy oil assets in Colombia and oil and gas assets in Peru, 100% of PetroMagdalena Energy Corp., which owns light oil assets in Colombia, and 100% of C&C Energia Ltd., which owns light oil assets in the Llanos Basin. In addition, the Company has a diversified portfolio of assets beyond Colombia, which includes producing and exploration assets in Peru, Guatemala, Brazil, Guyana and Papua New Guinea.

The Companies common shares trade on the Toronto Stock Exchange and La Bolsa de Valores de Colombia and as Brazilian Depositary Receipts on Brazil’s Bolsa de Valores Mercadorias e Futuros under the ticker symbols PRE, PREC, and PREB, respectively.

Darby Private Equity, a global emerging markets private equity fund manager was founded in 1994. Darby is a wholly owned subsidiary of Franklin Resources, Inc, (NYSE:BEN), a global investment management organization operating as Franklin Templeton Investments. For more information please visit darbyoverseas.com.

Franklin Templeton Investments provides global and domestic investment management solutions managed by its Franklin, Templeton, Mutual Series, Bissett, Fiduciary Trust, Darby, Balanced Equity Management K2 Advisors and Pelago investment teams. The San Mateo, CA-based company has more than 65 years of investment experience and more than US$882.2 billion in assets under management as of February 28, 2014. For more information please visit franklintempleton.com.

Fondo de Infraestructura de Transporte de Colombia is a Colombian-based infrastructure fund managed by Darby-Colpatria Capital S.A.S., a joint venture between Darby and Grupo Colpatria.

Advisories

Cautionary Note Concerning Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, that address activities, events or developments that the Company believes, expects or anticipates will or may occur in the future (including, without limitation, statements regarding estimates and/or assumptions in respect of production, revenue, cash flow and costs, reserve and resource estimates, potential resources and reserves and the Company’s exploration and development plans and objectives) are forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements reflect the current expectations or beliefs of the Company based on information currently available to the Company. Forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties that may cause the actual results of the Company to differ materially from those discussed in the forward-looking statements, and even if such actual results are realized or substantially realized, there can be no assurance that they will have the expected consequences to, or effects on, the Company. Factors that could cause actual results or events to differ materially from current expectations include, among other things: uncertainty of estimates of capital and operating costs, production estimates and estimated economic return; the possibility that actual circumstances will differ from the estimates and assumptions; failure to establish estimated resources or reserves; fluctuations in petroleum prices and currency exchange rates; inflation; changes in equity markets; political developments in Colombia, Peru, Guatemala, Brazil, Papua New Guinea or Guyana; changes to regulations affecting the Company’s activities; uncertainties relating to the availability and costs of financing needed in the future; the uncertainties involved in interpreting drilling results and other geological data; the impact of environmental, aboriginal or other claims and the delays such claims may cause in the expected development plans of the Company and the other risks disclosed under the heading “Risk Factors” and elsewhere in the Company’s annual information form dated March 13, 2014 filed on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. Any forward-looking statement speaks only as of the date on which it is made and, except as may be required by applicable securities laws, the company disclaims any intent or obligation to update any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or results or otherwise. Although the Company believes that the assumptions inherent in the forward-looking statements are reasonable, forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and accordingly undue reliance should not be put on such statements due to the inherent uncertainty therein.

In addition, reported production levels may not be reflective of sustainable production rates and future production rates may differ materially from the production rates reflected in this press release due to, among other factors, difficulties or interruptions encountered during the production of hydrocarbons.