New attack on oil infrastructure in Barrancabermeja, Santander

Ecopetrol expressed its rejection of the attack that caused a dent in the eight-inch gas line and environmental damage in the area

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Foto de archivo. Imagen la refinería de Ecopetrol en Barrancabermeja, departamento de Santander, Colombia, 1 de marzo, 2017. REUTERS/Jaime Saldarriaga

According to information from Ecopetrol, on the night of Tuesday, March 22, there was an explosion that affected a gas pipeline in the district of El Centro, in Barrancabermeja, as a result of a new attack by the ELN guerrilla against the oil infrastructure in Santander.

The attack left no people injured, but the explosion occurred in Campo 45 and caused an eight-inch dent in the gas line and environmental damage in the area.

“Once the impact was identified, the staff of the Special Operations Group on Hydrocarbons and Anti-Explosives were requested to support them to verify the area and implement preventive measures,” said the Ecopetrol official.

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For its part, the Mayor's Office of Barrancabermeja offered a $20 million reward for information to capture those responsible for the attacks on the oil sector in that area of Santander.

Through a statement, Ecopetrol emphatically rejected the attack and called on the competent authorities to protect the right to life and integrity of individuals and to carry out investigations that would allow the facts to be clarified and those responsible brought to justice.

The oil company submitted to the National Environmental Licensing Agency (ANLA) the results of the environmental impact study of the non-conventional project called “Platero”, located in the municipality of Puerto Wilches, Santander.

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For Gabriel Combariza, vice president of unconventional deposits at Ecopetrol, this study is part of the process for obtaining the corresponding environmental license:

The environmental impact study represents a judicious exercise that allows us to know in detail Platero's area of influence, to have a baseline that we will monitor in the implementation and to establish environmental management measures to protect ecosystems. In addition, it constitutes a valuable source of knowledge about the territory, which will be available for public consultation

The executive highlighted that this study has a Contingency and Risk Management Plan that identifies potential risks, mitigation measures and actions contemplated for contingency management, in order to protect the community, ecosystems, biodiversity, water resources, soil and air, among others aspects.

This project faced strong opposition from the community, which stated that it did not agree with this type of hydrocarbon exploitation in Santander.

Deputies from the Santander departmental assembly formed a decentralized assembly to collect the voices of Santandereans regarding the environmental license that Ecopetrol manages before ANLA.

Luis Ferley Sierra, Oscar Sanmiguel, Leonidas Gomez, Jonathan Duarte, Camilo Torres, Giovanni Leal and Nakor Rueda, said on behalf of Puerto Wilches, their rejection of carrying out the hydraulic fracturing pilot projects in the department.

This project faced strong opposition from the community, which stated that it did not agree with this type of hydrocarbon exploitation in Santander.

Deputies from the Santander departmental assembly formed a decentralized assembly to collect the voices of Santandereans regarding the environmental license that Ecopetrol manages before ANLA.

Luis Ferley Sierra, Oscar Sanmiguel, Leonidas Gomez, Jonathan Duarte, Camilo Torres, Giovanni Leal and Nakor Rueda, said on behalf of Puerto Wilches, their rejection of carrying out the hydraulic fracturing pilot projects in the department.

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