Violence Forces Colombia's Ecopetrol to Operate With Minimum Staff in Norte de Santander

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Written by Amir Richani for Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Colombian oil company Ecopetrol (NYSE:EC) (Bogota) has been impacted by the escalation of violence across the Catatumbo area, which has left dozens of deaths and thousands displaced. The violence could impact the gas supply to some cities.

Ecopetrol announced that it is operating with minimum staff at the Tibu, Sardinata and Oripaya fields in the Norte de Santander province due to armed clashes between guerrilla groups in the area. These oil and gas fields have a combined output of 1,900 barrels of oil per day (BBL/d) and 4 million cubic meters of natural gas per day.

The company has restricted the movement of staff and contractors so far as a preventive measure against the escalation of violence in the area. However, if the conflict persists or worsens, the gas supply to the cities of Tibu and Cucuta could be disrupted, impacting their power supply.

This would also lead to the suspension of around 300 contractors that conduct activities in the area.

Ecopetrol Chief Executive Officer Ricardo Roa Barragan said in a video that the company is committed to supplying fuel and gas to the affected areas, and he thanked the local government and armed forces for their support.

Since January 15, armed clashes between the guerrilla forces of Ejercito de Liberacion Nacional (ELN) and dissidents of the Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias (FARC) have broken out in the Catatumbo region, leaving at least 80 dead and thousands of people displaced.

The FARC signed a peace treaty in 2016 and demobilized, though parts of its members decided not to surrender arms and have since continued with their illegal activities. The ELN, for its part, was in the process of negotiating a peace treaty with incumbent President Gustavo Petro, who later declared the end of the talks over the escalation of violence.

"What the ELN has committed in Catatumbo are war crimes. The dialogue process with this group is suspended, the ELN has no will for peace," said Petro on X, formerly Twitter.

The Catatumbo region borders Venezuela and has faced years of territorial disputes from different armed groups.

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