Fuel production at risk due to blockades in Magdalena Medio - Sectors

The Barrancabermeja refinery will be forced to reduce its load starting tomorrow, Thursday.

Ecopetrol verified that the blockades that are registered in different points of Magdalena Medio are damaged by the company’s refining, production and project operations in the region.

The most delicate situation is recorded at the Barrancabermeja refinery, which will be forced to reduce its load starting tomorrow, January 26from 230,000 to 210,000 barrels per day.

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As Ecopetrol explained, this will be done by the impossibility of evacuating heavy products such as asphalt by land and fuel oil, which limits storage capacity.

If the blockades persist in the coming days, the refinery will have to further reduce its cargo processing capacity to bring it to 180,000 barrels per day.

This would imply a progressive decrease in the deliveries of products and a reduction in fuel inventories that the country needs for the mobility of private vehicles, public service, cargo transport, industrial consumption and air transport.

(Also read: Ecopetrol: Colombia will need oil royalties and taxes)

The locks too interrupting operations in production fields del Magdalena Medio, which were forced to prioritize maintenance work and projects due to mobility difficulties for personnel and services in the area.

In front of fuel shortages in BarrancabermejaEcopetrol has been working in coordination with national authorities, with representatives of local governments and the industry to review alternative solutions.