Social protests in Colombia are negatively impacting Ecopetrol SA’s operations as the situation is creating road blockades and incidents involving certain infrastructure, the operator said in a release May 26.
In the upstream segment, Ecopetrol’s production throughout May has been 651,000 boe/d. The most significant impacts have been in gas and white products (LPG and NGL), mainly in Cusiana and Floreña fields, and to a lesser extent to crude oil from Putumayo, Meta, Arauca, and Boyacá departments, the company said. Production in this segment has also been affected by prevailing operating restrictions related to water management in Castilla field.
In the midstream segment, accumulation of inventories in the wholesale plants and pipelines network has led Cenit to intermittently suspend pumping at some of its systems, which has resulted in a month-to-date volume of refined products transported of 224,000 b/d. The volume of crude oil transported month-to-date is 716,000 b/d.
In the downstream segment, the Barrancabermeja refinery has recorded a throughput of 207,000 b/d in May, given the lower availability of domestic crude and low withdrawals of fuel, petrochemical, and industrial products, the operator said. The Cartagena refinery's operations have not been impacted.
In commercial and marketing, there has been a decrease in the national demand for diesel (-33%), gasoline (-15%), and jet fuel (-1%) as compared to the expected demand levels for May. The demand for Ecopetrol's gas from the thermal and industrial sectors has decreased about 16% month-to-date, and the demand for LPG by 41% in the same period. Departments with the greatest impact in terms of fuel supply have been Valle del Cauca, Nariño, Cauca, Huila, and Caquetá.
In response, Ecopetrol is implementing adjustments to its operations and logistics to mitigate the negative impact on fuel supply to the different regions of Colombia.
As of May 26, the operator does not expect a material impact on its ability to fulfill its business plan targets for 2021 but cannot offer assurance as to when the social unrest will end and whether it will continue to have a negative impact on operations.
