Colombia reports five attacks on oil pipelines

Colombian state-owned oil company Ecopetrol reported five attacks on two pipelines, but added that exports of the raw material had not been affected.

The Cano Limon-Covenas pipeline was attacked three times, Ecopetrol's subsidiary Cenit reported, according to Reuters, and the Bicentenario pipeline was attacked twice. The Colombian army was deployed to the area of ​​the attacks on the Cano Limon-Covenas pipeline to protect personnel repairing the infrastructure.

Colombia's oil pipelines are a frequent target for guerrilla groups operating in the country. They are also attacked by criminal groups that steal crude oil and use it to produce drugs, the Reuters report said.

Colombia currently produces just under 800,000 barrels of oil per day, but wants to increase this amount to over 1 million barrels per day. The goal for 2024 is to reach 800,000 barrels per day, the head of the country's energy regulator said earlier this year.

At the same time, the current government has ambitious plans to develop wind and solar energy to reduce Colombia's dependence on revenues from oil, gas and coal production. However, hydrocarbons remain an important contributor to budget revenues. Despite this, the Petro government has not launched any new tenders for oil and gas production since taking office.

The state-owned oil company Ecopetrol is contributing to increased production through improved oil extraction techniques, thereby increasing the amount extracted from the deposits. Colombia's current oil production rate is an average of 27 percent, said Energy Minister Andres Camacho in May this year.

The government is also reviewing oil exploration contracts due to speculation. Some companies enter into contracts to resell oil reserves at a higher price without actually exploring for oil. This practice could affect future oil production.

“We are going through contract by contract to see where there are really good reasons to suspend these activities and where not, to explain possible non-compliance due to negligence,” said Orlando Velandia, head of the energy regulator ANH, earlier this year.

By Charles Kennedy for Oilprice.com

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