The blockades in different regions of Colombia are not only increasing cargo transportation, they are also putting the hydrocarbon production and the jobs of thousands of people who work in this industry.
In addition, the blockade that has been registered for more than a week on the road that leads from Puerto Gaitán, Meta, to the Rubiales village has not allowed the passage of groceries, food and fuel.
(Also read: Blockades in Puerto Gaitán, Meta and the emergence of hydrocarbon production)
This is impacting the load of the Cartagena and Barrancabermeja refineries, which jeopardizes the supply of liquid fuels in Colombia and other countries to which it is exported.
The alert was launched by several companies that have operations in this municipality of Meta, such as Ecopetrol, with its Rubiales fields –the largest in the country- and Caño Sur; meanwhile, Cepsa operates the Caracara block; Hocol has one called Ocelote and Frontera Energy operates Quifa and CPE-6.
But this is not the only blockade that is disconnected from the operation of the oil companies. Since January 21, Parex Resources had to close the Capachos and Arauca blocks due to threats from the ELN.
Due to this situation, they have stopped producing more than 49,500 barrels of oil per day in Puerto Gaitán and approximately 6,000 barrels in Arauca. This total represents 7.3 percent of the production that arose in Colombia in 2022, which was 754,199 barrels per day.
Also, with Brent oil trading above $83, companies are missing the opportunity to receive close to 22,000 million pesos for the exports of these barrels.
(Also read: The country’s highways suffer almost 3 blockades every day; there were 81 in January)
As for jobs, in Puerto Gaitán they are being affected more than 5,332 workers in the sector and in Arauca more than 600 jobs are at risk, including 430 from the local community.
Frontier Energy Surely, due to the blockade in Puerto Gaitán, it has stopped producing approximately 11,500 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boed) in the Quifa and CPE-6 blocks, since they reached their on-site storage capacity.
Likewise, it has proactively suspended all its construction and drilling activities in the area until new notice. Parex Resources had to do the same in Arauca.
«Frontera’s top priority continues to be the health and safety of its employees, contractors and the communities in which it operates, with a key focus on environmental Protection«said the company.
During the month of January, Frontera Energy will lose production of approximately 42,200 boed, of which close to 23,200 barrels are of heavy oil, 16,800 barrels of light and medium crude, 6.5 million cubic feet of natural gas and 1,200 barrels of natural gas liquids.
