A force majeure declaration followed the day after and oil shipments have been rescheduled. "We estimate that in the course of tomorrow the work on the SOTE will fully culminate, if climate conditions are favorable," Petroecuador said in a statement. "Five days after the collapse of the bridge...Petroecuador has completed 89% of the technical and contingency work in the area." The company expects pumping can gradually restart once work is finished, allowing an analysis on the possible lifting of force majeure. The company began gradually shutting oil wells in the Amazon last week, nearly halving its production to 185,373 barrels per day (bpd) on Sunday. Output by private companies fell to 58,304 bpd, according to regulator figures. The SOTE and OCP pipelines are regularly halted because of tubing damage from rocks and landslides, but the incident this week occurred at a different location than ones in 2020 and 2021. Petroecuador said it will build an eighth variant of the SOTE and a sixth for the Shushufindi Quito polyduct in an effort to prevent future breakages. (Reporting by Alexandra Valencia Writing by Julia Symmes Cobb)
By Alexandra Valencia
QUITO, Feb 27 (Reuters) - Ecuador state oil company
Petroecuador said on Monday that technical and contingency work
on its SOTE pipeline is likely to conclude on Tuesday, setting
the company up to gradually restart pumping after a force
majeure declaration.
Petroecuador and private pipeline operator OCP Ecuador
suspended their respective pipelines as a preventative measure
last week after a bridge collapsed next to their operations in
Napo province.
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