The state-owned company Petroecuador reported that sabotage occurred this morning in the Transecuadorian Oil Pipeline System (SOTE), which caused an oil spill in the province of Sucumbíos.

The SOTE oil pipeline was secretly drilled. After the tip was received, containment and cleanup work began, the oil company reported, which rejected “these criminal actions that threaten this structure that transports crude oil.”

Petroecuador is developing preventive works to protect SOTE

Petroecuador has announced that it will immediately launch investigations to find those responsible for this drilling, which it believes was carried out deliberately and near the water surface.

The alarm is already controlled. Specialized personnel from Petroecuador, from the operational areas, from Amazonía Vive and Restauración Ambiental have been mobilized to the point for containment and cleaning. A contract with the company OCP Ecuador was also activated for these activities.

Oil shipments have returned to normal in Ecuador as OCP pumping resumes, while production resumes

One of the first actions was the immediate suspension of work, and the priority was care for the environment. In addition to relocating remediation personnel to the area, closing sectional valves, installing protective barriers and notifying the competent environmental protection and surveillance authorities.

Petroecuador has temporarily suspended SOTE operations to mitigate the effects of this fuel leak. But this does not affect exports, because the state oil company guarantees that there is enough crude oil in the storage tanks.