UPDATE 1-Colombia's Ecopetrol says closes Propilco deal

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BOGOTA, April 8 (Reuters) - Colombia's energy company Ecopetrol ECO.CN said on Tuesday it had closed its purchase of petrochemical products manufacturer Propilco for $690 million to take advantage of the market for crude products.

The deal with Polipropileno del Caribe, or Propilco, must still await approval by Colombian anti-monopoly authorities, Ecopetrol said in a statement.

"The purchase of Propilco is fundamental in the new strategy of growth for Ecopetrol and the company intensified exploration and production to transform oil and gas into value-added products." it said.

Ecopetrol President Javier Gutierrez told Reuters recently that the company's investment plan foresaw $58 billion in spending through 2015 with its own resources, debt issues and the capitalization achieved last year.

The purchase of Propilco is the first since Ecopetrol placed 10.1 percent of its shares on the market in September with which it raised $2.8 billion.

Propilco is the leading producer of resins in the Andean region, Central America and the Caribbean with a production of 380,000 tonnes a year of polypropylene and a target output of 500,000 tonnes by 2010. (Reporting by Javier Mozzo in Bogota, writing by Patrick Markey; Editing by Christian Wiessner)