10 June 2014, News Wires – Colombia’s crude-oil production fell 6% to 950,000 barrels per day in May after key oil pipelines were shut in following guerilla attacks.
The Cano Limon-Covenas pipeline, which carries crude from the Cano Limon and Caricare fields operated by US-based Occidental,was closed for two months until 25 May, forcing the oil fields that use it to stop production, Reuters reported.
The pipeline was attacked again last week, a source at state-run oil company Ecopetrol, its owner, told the news wire last Thursday but it is expected to be running again this week.
Colombia’s gas production in May totaled 1.084 billion cubic feet per day, the ministry data showed, though no comparative figure was available.
Colombia has seen a deterioration in public security in some regions in recent months due, some commentators say, to the destabilising influence of burgeoning illegal mining activity and broader political factors such as the delicately poised peace talks with the main guerilla group, the Revolutionary Armed Force of Colombia (FARC).
The Bicentenario pipeline has also been shut in by guerilla attacks in recent months, forcing Ecopetrol and pipeline partner Pacific Rubiales to resort to massive trucking operations to keep output flowing.