Ecuador’s private pipeline operator has been disrupted after the pumping of crude oil exploded

By Alexandra Valencia

QUITO (Reuters) – OCP Ecuador, Ecuador’s private crude pipeline operator, stopped pumping crude oil on Saturday as a precautionary measure after it exploded in the Amazon (NASDAQ 🙂 and began cleaning and repairing it.

The blast occurred on Friday night in the Piedra Fina area, an area in the Amazon region of Ecuador, where backward erosion caused the OCP pipeline and SOTE state pipeline to stop pumping in December, forcing the government to declare an emergency on its oil exports and production. .

“OCP Ecuador SA has announced that the pumping has been stopped as a precaution and will be re-launched when the conditions are right,” the company said in a statement.

The repair action is to keep the spill raw so that it cannot contaminate the water body, the company said. Pipeline repairs were also underway, he said.

Retrospective erosion has continued steadily in the area since 2020, threatening pipelines and causing problems with water sources at Ecuador’s largest hydroelectric power plant and highway.

The OCP Ecuador said on Friday that the pipeline had exploded in an area where there was no direct impact on the rivers and that it was controlling the flow of oil. However, the indigenous organization CONFENIAE said that the communities are already affected.

“The impact of the oil spill has reached the Panduyaku Kichwa community in Sucumbíos province,” CONFENIAE said in a Twitter (NYSE 🙂 message along with a video showing gross pollution in a river.

The two pipes exploded in 2020 as a result of erosion, causing oil spills in the Coca River and affecting many Amazonian communities.

Energy Minister Juan Carlos Bermeo said he was pleased with the situation.

The OCP has taken measures in Ecuador to ensure that it does not affect either the oil flow or the country’s gross exports, it said.