Sept 14 (Reuters) - Colombian oil company Ecopetrol aims to drill 100 wells by the end of 2021 in the Permian Basin of West Texas, the company's chief executive Felipe Bayon said on Monday.

Colombia's biggest oil company has resumed drilling activities under its joint venture with Occidental Petroleum in the Permian Basin since June and plans to drill 22 new wells in the near term, Bayon said during the virtual Asia Pacific Petroleum Conference (APPEC).

Asia is now the company's biggest client for its crude output in terms of geographical regions, and Ecopetrol is currently working on expanding crude oil sales to India and South Korea, he said.

The majority state-owned company was able to avoid production shutdowns during the COVID-19 pandemic due to China's demand for Colombian crude, Bayon added. (Reporting by Florence Tan and Koustav Samanta; Editing by Christian Schmollinger)