(Quito) Ecuador will temporarily suspend part of its crude oil exports due to a check to be carried out on two of its main pipelines, Petroecuador announced on Friday.
The public company, which extracts 78% of total oil production (481,000 barrels per day of crude in 2022), said in a press release “to implement the technical plan for the gradual shutdown of wells in the fields of public company located in the Amazon”.
In question: ground movements which caused the collapse of a bridge over the Marker river, in the Amazonian province of Napo, where two Petroecuador pipelines pass.
Both were unaffected but the company immediately suspended pumping as a precaution. Petroecuador expects to be able to start pumping crude again within seven days.
A “force majeure” mechanism has been triggered, allowing it to avoid penalties for non-compliance with contracts with its customers.
Petroecuador said “inform the companies with which it currently has contractual obligations”, without specifying from when shipments could be suspended.
Crude oil is Ecuador’s main export product. In 2022, it sold 67% of its total production, generating revenues of $10 billion, or about 10% of GDP.