Oleoducto Bicentenario de Colombia SAS Delays Phases 2, 3 of Pipeline Project

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources Latin America (Cordoba, Argentina)--A lengthy environmental permitting process has forced Oleoducto Bicentenario de Colombia SAS (Bogotá, Colombia) to delay the second and third phases of a 1,000-kilometer (621-mile) crude oil pipeline project, according to the company.

A spokesman for the Oleoducto Bicentenario (OBC) project said the delay has been caused by Colombian environmental policies, which require a lengthy permitting process.

Oleoducto Bicentenario de Colombia SAS, which was formed by seven firms that joined especially for the development of the pipeline project, is performing environmental-impact studies. The study reports will be given to environmental authorities during the first quarter of 2014. The permitting results will not be known until 18 months after the reports are completed.

If the permits are granted after that period, Oleoducto Bicentenario de Colombia SAS will pick an engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) firm to continue the engineering of the second and third phases of the project.

SICIM Spa (Bogotá, Colombia) won an EPC contract for the first phase of the project, which included the installation of 230 kilometers (142 miles) of the 42-inch pipeline from Araguaney to Banadia. The first phase also included construction of tanks in existing storage Terminals (Araguaney and Coveñas) and the installation of a provisional pumping system with three vertical Sulzer pumps driven by electric motors. This phase began during the third quarter of 2013.

In the second phase of the project, 390 kilometers (242 miles) of 36-inch pipeline will be installed from Banadia to Ayacucho. Also, a pump station will be built.

The third phase will consist of a 380-kilometer (236-mile), 36-inch pipeline from Ayacucho to Covenas, where tanks will be built at an existing Terminal (Covenas).

Progress on the last two phases included basic engineering, which was developed by the firm Inelectra Internacional (Bogotá, Colombia).

Project managers appear to be optimistic about the situation and expect to have all permits granted by mid-2015 in order to start public tender process.

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