The serious events that occurred last week at the facilities of the Emerald Energy oil company in San Vicente del Caguan – which left 85 kidnapped and two dead – are not an isolated case, but one of the many social and Blockades that companies must face on a daily basisnot only from the oil sector, but also from the mining and electrical sectors in the country.
Campesinos took over the Capella A field, located in the village of Pozos, for more than 40 days, and set fire to the offices of emerald energy. As a result of this, the company, which is a subsidiary of the Chinese state company Sinochem, asked the National Hydrocarbons Agency (ANH) for authorization to suspend its operations.
(Also read: These are the bloody images left by protests at the Caguan oil base)
But this is just one of the many violent acts that the company has had to face in this area of Caquetá and that have led it to paralyze its operations on several occasions. In addition to lockdowns, in the past the extinct FARC kidnapped their workers and tanker trucks loaded with oil were incinerated.
Emerald Energy has five contracts in Colombia. In addition to Ombú, in this department there is the Ceiba, which is currently suspended, while the one in Nogal is in the process of completion. In Huila he has a VSM-32, also suspended.
If the ANH accepts the request to stop activities in Ombú, the company would only be left producing oil in Maranta, a block it has in Putumayo, since the others were in the exploration phase.
It is essential to mitigate the resurgence of demonstrations and blockades in the country, to provide security to workers and communities
In the Capella field, of the Ombú block, 2,000 barrels of oil were produced per day, and according to data from the Colombian Oil and Gas Association (ACP), due to the violent acts that occurred, the country stopped receiving 2,600 million pesos of royaltiesof which 650 million pesos corresponded to San Vicente del Caguan.
But these are not the only blocks that have problems. Figures from the Ministry of Mines and Energy indicate that there are currently 32 oil contracts suspended due to social unrest (18), public order (10) and environmental procedures (4). Most of them are located in the Caguan-Putumayo (13) and Llanos Orientales (8) basins.
While the ACP figures reveal that in 2022 there were 1,056 blockades to the operations of the oil sector, an increase of 38 percent compared to the 766 a year ago. This means that last year there were 2.9 daily blockages to operations across the country.
(Also read: Ecopetrol pronounces itself against the attack with explosives on the oil pipeline)
It also highlights that in Santander, Meta, Casanare and Putumayo, 67 percent of the total blockades are registered, which put the 95,000 jobs generated by this industry and royalties paid to regions for oil and natural gas production.
From the Colombian Natural Gas Association (Naturgas) they denounce that to date there are companies affected by some blockades in Antioquia, Santander and Norte de Santander. And although no damage has been recorded to the infrastructure and equipment of field personnel, it may have effects on the safety of collaborators and communities, as well as on the distribution of this hydrocarbon that guarantees the supply of homes, industries and vehicles.
“It is essential to mitigate the resurgence of demonstrations and blockades in the country, to provide security to workers and communities in areas surrounding the operations, as well as the integrity of the production and supply infrastructure, which today allows us to guarantee the supply of the 36 million Colombians who have this service in their homes, as well as miles from vehicles that use vehicular natural gas“, says Luz Stella Murgas, president of Naturgas.
Farmers set fire to the Emerald Energy facilities in Caquetá.
More than blocks
The hydrocarbons sector is not only the victim of blockades and social protests, but also threats from illegal armed groups. It is the case of Parex Resourcesthat had to stop its activities in Arauca 50 days ago due to intimidation by the eastern front of the ELN.
Not only are 680 workers being affected, but by ceasing to produce oil, the 113,000 million pesos that it estimated to pay in royalties between 2023 and 2024 would be impacted, in addition to the social investment of 15,000 million pesos, the contracting of services stores for 83,000 million pesos and the 2,000 additional jobs that he calculated for these years.
Ecopetrol has been another of the most affected companies due to public order problems, which intensified in the last year. While in 2021 it had to face 569 blocks, last year there were 783, that is, an increase of 38 percent (214 more).
But it must also deal with attacks on its transportation and production infrastructure. In 2021 there were 40, the following year they dropped to 25 and so far this year there have already been five attacks. The most affected pipeline has been Caño Limón-Coveñasa pipeline that crosses the country from the Llanos to Sucre with 17 blasting operations along its route through Norte de Santander, Arauca and Cesar.
(Also read: Colombia unifies networks to transport natural gas: what does it imply?)
supply at risk
The electricity sector is also no stranger to this problem. In La Guajira, Cerrejón is not the only frequent victim of blockades, the companies that are building wind farms in this department they have also had to deal with this issue.
The Colombian Association of Electric Power Generators (Acolgén) ensures that social protests and lockdowns are carefully delaying construction schedules and development of projects totaling more than 2,500 megawatts, which is why it calls for special attention from all the authorities and agents involved.
The suspension or delay of these initiatives may result in risks of electric power shortages by 2027
Also, please note that the suspension or delay of these initiatives may result in risks of power shortages towards 2027, since it implies an imbalance in the generation matrix due to the non-commissioning of projects in a timely manner that represents 12 percent of the available capacity estimated for that year.
“We request strengthen security in the department and the accompaniment and constant support of the Government towards the companies and their contractors, to protect the integrity of their workers and the proper development of these projects”, asks Acolgén.
Meanwhile, Alejandro Castañeda, executive director of the National Association of Generating Companies (Andeg), states that the blockades in certain regions of the country are making it difficult to mobilize the personnel needed to damage maintenance of thermal power plantsas is currently happening in Córdoba.
The same drawbacks occur in the worker shift changes those in charge of the operations of power generation plants, for which reason staff must be increased or work hours extended.
This is added to the delays registered in the arrival of the trucks that transport the coal required by the thermal to produce energy, in areas such as Boyacá and Norte de Santander.
LINA QUIROGA BLONDE
deiqui@eltiempo.com
