Ecuador’s oil production reached 439,399 barrels, after the OCP was launched again

Ecuador’s daily oil production stood at 439,399.45 barrels on February 7 after the restart of crude oil pumping from the Heavy Crude Oil Pipeline (OCP). On February 6, production levels had been 418,214.51 barrels per day. In other words, there was an increase of 21,175 barrels.

The increase, according to data from the Energy Regulation and Control Agency (ARC), the largest increase is recorded in the Eden Yuturi field managed by Petroecuador. This increased its production from 12,999 to 29,472 barrels. Block 31 (Apanka Nenke) was also increased from 0 barrels to 4,272 barrels. Meanwhile, yesterday it was expected that the production of the ITT field would resume, which produces some 60,000 barrels and that, due to problems with the OCP, had zero production.

It is that yesterday the OCP announced that it resumed its operations after 11 days of paralyzing pumping in the Piedra Fina area, where the pipeline suffered a break due to the effects of a stone that fell on it.

“We restarted pumping yesterday afternoon, Monday, February 7, we completed the repair of the pipeline and we can once again transport Ecuador’s wealth to the port in Esmeraldas for export,” said Jorge Vugdelija, executive president of OCP Ecuador.

Now the new front that OCP must face is the issue of environmental remediation.

According to the company, the environmental remediation and social compensation actions are being carried out in an organized manner according to the plan approved by the authorities and with all State controls, according to the executive. During this event of force majeure, the transport company has contracted three specialized companies that work with more than 790 people in the territory and specialized machinery.

OCP Ecuador has made significant progress in remediation, having collected more than 1,000 cubic meters of soil with traces of crude oil. On issues of social compensation, he reported that 120,000 liters of water have already been delivered, most of it in tankers, and food kits that comply with the technical standard of the National Risk and Emergency Management Service. Likewise, medical conferences have begun to address basic health issues in nearby towns.

However, the communities of the lower Napo sector live a different story. Xavier Solís, lawyer for the Alejandro Labaka Foundation, explained that no remediation work has been carried out in this sector. Remediation work has been seen on the Coca River, but not on the Napo. He explained that the environmental problem has been serious. Even the Ministry of the Environment itself warned of an oil slick that had reached the Yasuní Park. Thus, José Orellana, mayor of the Municipality of Aguarico, close to the Bajo Napo area, also denounced the lack of remediation.

For Solís, the Coca and Napo areas are points that have already been systematically affected by oil work. Thus, based on the figures of the oil transport and production companies, they recall that at least 48,000 barrels have been dumped in the area in four spills since 2009. He recalled that the OCP was broken in February 2009 and there was a spill of 14,000 barrels, for which the city of Coca was left without water for two months. In 2013 the SOTE had a problem in the El Reventador area, which is already a risk area due to landslides, eruptions, among others. This time, 11,480 barrels were dumped on land and water.

The worst disaster occurred in April 2020 due to the effects of regressive erosion. At that time there were 15,800 barrels affecting the same rivers, the same population, the same communities, the same cities, says Solís.

The latest chapter is from the recent spill of 6,300 barrels.

Faced with this scenario, the Alejandro Labaka Foundation and other human rights organizations are calling for comprehensive and long-term reparations. “Short-term solutions are no longer effective,” says Solís. He explains that no matter how many drums of water and food are delivered, the population can no longer and should not return to the river because it is highly polluted. “People need water and food, but in the long term and projects must be carried out in this regard,” he said. The foundation also awaits the ruling of the Constitutional Court so that comprehensive reparation measures are issued for what happened in 2020. (I)