Ecopetrol restores some refinery throughput

Colombia's state-controlled Ecopetrol is restoring some refinery throughput in response to a modest uptick in fuel demand.

The company has added about 25,000 b/d to crude runs in recent days, chief executive Felipe Bayon told analysts on a first quarter earnings call this morning.

After the supply glut and demand collapse swept through the oil market in March, Ecopetrol slashed crude runs at its two Colombian refineries to 225,000-230,000 b/d from a previous 370,000-380,000 b/d.

At the 250,000 b/d Barrancabermeja refinery in Santander state, runs are now back up to 140,000-141,000 b/d, compared with a previous 115,000 b/d, Bayon said.

At Ecopetrol's newer 165,000 b/d Cartagena refinery on the Caribbean coast, normal runs were cut from 150,000 b/d to around 110,000 b/d, where they remain for now.

"We have been able to very quickly adapt and adjust the runs to cope with the reduction in demand. But also very quickly ramp up again," Bayon said.

Colombia has begun to reopen construction, manufacturing and some services after imposing a nationwide lockdown in March to manage the onslaught of the Covid-19 pandemic.

"We are seeing demand increase very marginally and slowly," Bayon said. "We will continue to synchronize with increases in activities … as the Colombian economy opens again."

Ecopetrol processed an average 345,000 b/d of crude at the two refineries in the first quarter, including 146,000 b/d at Cartagena and 199,000 b/d at Barrancabermeja.

The consolidated throughput was off slightly from 351,000 b/d in first quarter 2019, including 155,000 b/d at Cartagena and 196,000 b/d at Barrancabermeja.

By Patricia Garip