Colombia state oil firm Ecopetrol and the central government's transparency department have filed a claim against a former Ecopetrol official as part of an ongoing bribery investigation by Colombia's prosecutor general, a company press release said.

The prosecutor general is investigating bribery claims against ex-Ecopetrol worker David Orlando Durárn Flórez and his wife Johana Navarro Carvajal as well as Mauricio Vesga, a former worker at mining and energy services firm PetroTiger.

Last week a US court brought charges against PetroTiger co-CEO Knut Hammarskjold for allegedly paying bribes to an Ecopetrol official in order to secure a US$39.6mn oil services contract.

Ecopetrol said the contract in question was not for an Ecopetrol operation but between PetroTiger and Mansarovar Energy, an oil exploration and development joint venture (JV) between India state oil firm ONGC Videsh and Chinese oil firm Sinopec. However Ecopetrol is listed as a partner on Mansarovar's website.

Between 2009 and 2010 approximately US$333,500 in bribes were allegedly paid to secure an operation and maintenance contract for several oil fields in the middle Magdalena region in northern Magdalena department, Ecopetrol added.

Ecopetrol has also requested that Mansarovar provide documents relevant to the case.