Ecuador's Oil Production Dropped 90,000 BBL/d After OCP Pipeline Shutdown

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Written by Amir Richani for Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--One of Ecuador's main oil pipelines was shut on June 17, disrupting oil production in some parts of the country.

Ecuadorian oil production stood at 391,000 barrels of oil per day (BBL/d) on June 23, about 90,000 BBL/d less than the usual volumes, according to numbers from the Agency of Regulation and Control of Energy and Non-renewable Natural Resources.

Prior to the pipeline disruption, oil production averaged about 483,000 BBL/d, with Petroecuador (Quito, Ecuador) producing about 388,000 BBL/d and private companies about 94,000 BBL/d.

Nevertheless, on June 17, the private company Oleoductos de Crudos Pesados (OCP) announced a force majeure on the OCP pipeline, which has a 450,000-BBL/d capacity and is 485 kilometers long, due to bad weather in the Province of Napo that had led to erosion of the Quijos River.

The river's erosion could affect the pipeline, forcing OCP to preventively halt operations on the asset. The company has yet to offer an update on the pipeline's status; however, it posted on Twitter that it was building two bypasses in Salado, San Luis, which could be related to the OCP pipeline.

As a result of the pipeline closure, Petroecuador said on June 19 that it was forced to shut down 37,000 BBL/d of production from Block 43, known as the ITT, and blocks 16 and 67. It also said that it was proceeding to fill its storages of Napo crude and that it would have to start shutting wells once storage was maxed out.

The company has not offered any updates on its production or operations. However, numbers from the national regulator show that Petroecuador's production has dropped further since June 19 to 308,000 BBL/d by June 23. This could mean that the company has been forced to shut down more assets.

Meanwhile, the private companies' output seems to have also been affected, averaging 83,000 BBL/d between June 22 and 23, compared to roughly 94,000 BBL/d prior to the OCP's closure.

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