A month of anti-government protests across Colombia is taking a toll on state-controlled Ecopetrol's upstream, midstream and downstream operations.
The company said it has produced 651,000 b/d of oil equivalent so far in May, down by 3.7pc from the first quarter average of 676,000 boe/d, a level that was already eroded by Covid-19 pandemic effects and water handling issues. First quarter 2020 production averaged 735,000 boe/d.
The biggest impact has been felt in gas liquids, mainly in the Cusiana and Floreña fields, and to a lesser extent in oil fields in Putumayo, Meta, Arauca and Boyacá departments, Ecopetrol said late yesterday.
The firm noted that ongoing water-handling restrictions at the Castilla field have contributed to the decline.
Because of widespread roadblocks, inventories have built up at wholesale distribution hubs and product pipelines, prompting Ecopetrol's midstream unit Cenit to intermittently suspend pipeline operations. In the month to date, refined product transport was 224,000 b/d, while crude flow was 716,000 b/d, the firm said. The first quarter overall average was 1.007mn b/d.
Downstream, throughput at the company's 250,000 b/d Barrancabermeja refinery in Santander department fell to 207,000 b/d, compared with 216,900 b/d in the first quarter, because of a lower crude feedstock and limited distribution of fuel, petrochemicals and industrial products.
Ecopetrol's 165,000 b/d Cartagena refinery on the Caribbean coast has not been affected, the company said.
Diesel and gasoline demand were off by 33pc and 15pc from budgeted levels for May, the company said. Thermoelectric and industrial gas demand fell by 16pc and LPG was down by 41pc.
Except for jet fuel, Colombian products demand prior to the protests had returned to or exceeded pre-pandemic levels. Ecopetrol sold 137,700 b/d of mid-distillates in the domestic market in the first quarter, down by 6.6pc from a year earlier. Gasoline sales averaged 124,400 b/d, up by 8.6pc, while LPG sales were 19,400 b/d, up by 4.9pc.
First quarter natural gas sales grew by 10.9pc year on year to the equivalent of 92,300 b/d, while sales of industrial products and petrochemicals inched by 1.6pc to 25,100 b/d.
The protests, which erupted on 28 April in response to a tax proposal that the government later withdrew, are still underway, particularly in Cali and parts of Bogota. Roadblocks have impeded motor fuel and LPG distribution. The latter has forced some families to cook with firewood.
The administration of President Ivan Duque is holding talks with protest leaders in a self-appointed national strike committee to try to restore calm. Protesters accuse the police of brutality and human rights abuses, while government officials say legitimate demonstrations have been infiltrated by criminal groups looking to destabilize the country.
