Ecuador's Oil Production Returns to Normal Levels with Restart of Pipelines

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Written by Amir Richani for Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Petroecuador has finalized the works on the Sistema Oleoducto Transecuatoriano (SOTE) and lifted its force majeure following the shutdown of major oil pipelines and fields in the northern region of the country.

Petroecuador said on Monday that it had lifted its force majeure and reestablished 95% of its oil production following the shutdown of SOTE, the OCP oil pipeline, and the Shushufindi-Quito pipeline on February 22. All of them are major midstream infrastructure that help transport oil and products from Ecuador's Amazonian region to the coast, major cities, terminals and refineries.

Nevertheless, a bridge collapse on February 22 caused the shutdown of these three pipelines, leading to an oil output collapse as crude could not be transported. As a result, by the end of February, the South American nation was producing some 250,000 barrels of oil per day (BBL/d), about half of the nation's output due to the bridge collapse and pipeline closures.

However, the national oil company said in a statement that it had reached an oil production of 374,000 BBL/d by March 5. This volume accounts for about 95% of Petroecuador's total oil output. Petroecuador accounts for 80% of Ecuador's oil production and operates 25 oil blocks, of which 22 are in the Amazonian region.

On February 28, the oil company slowly resumed pumping through the SOTE, seven days after the pipeline shutdown. Following that, the oil company restarted 1,643 oil wells in the affected fields, yet 25 oil wells suffered malfunctions and required maintenance leading to a loss of just over 4,000 BBL/d. It is expected that this volume will be recovered soon as maintenance work is carried out.

Meanwhile, OCP, a private company that operates the OCP pipeline, also said that it restarted pumping through the 450,000-BBL/d asset on March 2, which allowed Ecuadorian oil production to climb closer to normal levels.

By March 6, Ecuador was producing some 468,000 BBL/d, slightly below the average of 470,000 to 500,000 BBL/d that the country usually registers. Petroecuador's output, meanwhile, was close to normal levels of 381,000 BBL/d, and private companies were producing some 87,000 BBL/d.

However, downstream rates remained below normal by March 6 due to the shutdown of the pipelines, as the 110,000 BBL/d capacity Esmeraldas Refinery has been running at 80% of total capacity since February 24 following the closure of midstream infrastructure.

Pipeline shutdowns in the Amazonian regions of Ecuador are not uncommon, given that harsh weather conditions and land erosions have caused similar incidents in the past.

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