Ecuador to resume oil loadings after pipeline repairs

Ecuador will restart crude loadings next week after the OCP repaired its heavy crude pipeline.

The first cargo of 480,000 bl will be loaded at Esmeraldas port on 11 May, with a total of 4mn bl scheduled through the end of May, OCP said.

A segment of the private-sector line was damaged in mudslides in early April. A 1.7km bypass, mostly underground, was constructed at the site of the rupture on the border between Napo and Sucumbios provinces, OCP said.

The company said 1.2mn bl of stored crude are ready to be transported from its Amazonas station, and the first flows from operators will begin at 6am local time (7am ET) tomorrow.

The 485km (301mi) OCP line is owned by China's Andes Petroleum, Spain's Repsol, US independent Occidental, Argentina's Pampa Energy and UK-French independent Perenco.

State-owned PetroEcuador earlier reported that it had also repaired its weather-damaged 503km Sote crude pipeline, and today confirmed that some flow has now resumed.

The dual pipeline ruptures combined with a plunge in fuel demand caused by pandemic-related social restrictions devastated the former Opec country's production in recent weeks.

Ecuador produced an average of 182,353 b/d of crude in April, compared with a first quarter average of 521,927 b/d, according to data from oil regulator Arch.

By Patricia Garip