Page 9 - LatAmOil Week 13 2020
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TRINIDAD & TOBAGO
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Similarly, the firm said work would proceed despite new public health rules designed to slow the spread of the coronavirus (COVID-19) out- break “Trinidad, like most countries, has imple- mented restrictions on movement of people for non-essential work, and these policies will remaininplaceforatleastthenextfewweeks,”it said. “The Inniss-Trinity field does remain oper- ational, and oilfield personnel have been issued with passes to travel to and from the field.”
Predator also said it had the ability to mon- itor conditions at the oilfield without excessive risk to staff. “The remote-access data-gathering system that was put in place before coronavirus
struck allows the company to monitor real- time pressure data and to adjust injection pres- sures and CO2 injected volumes remotely,” it explained.
It added: “Positive cash flow at low oil prices will be critical during this transition period, and thecompanynowhasadditionaltimetopoten- tially expand CO2 EOR operations in Trinidad for very low capital investment.”
Predator is providing funding to support Columbus’ EOR programme at Inniss-Trinity. It also has an option to acquire the project for a price of $4.2mn, provided that it chooses to do so before September 30, 2020.
Colombian insurgents to suspend attacks on Ecopetrol’s pipelines
COLOMBIA
COLOMBIA’S main insurgent group, the National Liberation Army (ELN), has pledged to suspend attacks on the national oil pipeline network as part of a unilateral cease-fire during the month of April.
On March 30, the group said in a statement that it would not seek to damage pipelines owned by Ecopetrol, the national oil company (NOC), while the cease-fire remained in effect between April 1 and April 30. It said it had taken this step in order to show its support for efforts to rein in the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak.
ELN cautioned, though, that its unilateral declaration did not represent an unconditional cease-fire. In its statement, it said it would main- tain an “active” posture that allowed it to defend itself from strikes by Colombian military forces.
The group, which has been at odds with Colombia’s government for decades, routinely targets Ecopetrol’s pipelines.
It has staged frequent attacks on the Cano Limon-Covenas (OCC) system, which can pump 220,000 barrels per day of crude oil along the country’s border with Venezuela in the east, and on the Transandino (OTA) system, which pumps 85,000 bpd near the border with Ecua- dor in the south.
The number of attacks on the pipelines has declined since the beginning of the year. ELN staged 15 actions against the OCC and OTA lines in the month of February, but the number fell to three in March. Ecopetrol representatives told Argus Media that insurgents had targeted the OCC system once in March and the OTA system twice last month.
Colombia’s government has called on the ELN to extend its cease-fire beyond April 30.
Like other Latin American hydrocarbon
producers, Ecopetrol has been hit hard by the drop in world oil prices. But it is also feeling the impact of the coronavirus pandemic, as public health policies designed to rein in contagion have cut into demand for petroleum products in Colombia. The NOC told Argus Media that its refineries had reduced throughput in response to a drop in domestic gasoline and jet fuel con- sumption.
OCC and OTA are both key oil transportation routes (Image: Ecopetrol)
Week 13 02•April•2020 w w w . N E W S B A S E . c o m P9
