Colombia oil line hit for 77th time this year

Colombia´s Cano Limon-Covenas crude pipeline was attacked again today, marking the 77th strike of 2018, said state-controlled Ecopetrol.

The 220,000 b/d line, which hugs the border with Venezuela and leads to the Caribbean port of Covenas, was attacked 62 times in 2017.

Today´s attack, which took place in Canaguata, Cubara municipality in Boyaca department, caused a forest fire and contamination of a local waterway, Ecopetrol said.

The company shut off a flow valve near the site of the attack while it awaits military support to enter the area to mitigate the damage and start repairs.

The operational impact of the pipeline attacks has been offset since last year when the interconnecting Bicentenario pipeline was made to flow in two directions. But the cost of using the two-way pipeline is higher that using the Cano Limon-Covenas line.

The perpetrator of the attack was not immediately identified.

Volatile eastern Colombia is often the site of attacks by the National Liberation Army (ELN), dissidents of the former guerrilla group Farc, and assorted criminal groups tied to the illegal drugs trade. ELN and other groups have a growing presence in neighboring Venezuela.

The government of center-right president Ivan Duque says it will not renew a ceasefire and restart talks with the ELN until the group stops criminal activity and releases all hostages. The last bilateral ceasefire, forged under the previous government of center-left president Juan Manuel Santos, expired in January 2018.