"A Petroecuador multidisciplinary team is working on a
physical evaluation of both transport infrastructures with a
view to taking necessary corrective action in the short term,"
Petroecuador said, adding the suspension would head off any
potential environmental damage.
The 497-kilometer (310-mile) SOTE has the capacity to
transport 360,000 barrels per day of crude through the Amazonia,
Sierra and Costa regions of the country, supplying a marine
terminal and refinery.
The company's other operations and provision of fuel are
functioning normally, it added.
Later in the afternoon OCP said in its own statement it has
also halted pumping, saying the bridge collapse was the result
of heavy rains.
"We have immediately activated the emergency response plan,
halting the pumping of crude and closing the blockage valve,
located some 800 meters from the bridge. The pipeline has not
ruptured," OCP said.
Its personnel will drain the pipeline, OCP added.
Both pipelines are regularly halted because of tubing damage
from rocks and landslides.
(Reporting by Alexandra Valencia;
Writing by Julia Symmes Cobb
Editing by Chris Reese, Marguerita Choy and Sandra Maler)
(Recasts with suspension of OCP pipeline)
QUITO, Feb 22 (Reuters) - Ecuadorean state oil company
Petroecuador and private pipeline operator OCP have both
suspended operations on their respective pipelines as a
preventative measure after a nearby bridge in Napo province
collapsed, the companies said on Wednesday.
Petroecuador halted its SOTE crude pipeline and its
Shushufindi polyduct after the bridge on the Marker River, which
is next to Petroecuador's facilities in the country's Amazon,
collapsed, it said in a statement.
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