All three legacy-oil pipelines in the Andean Amazon system are old. The Oleoducto Transandino Colombiano (OTC) has been operating for 53 years, followed by the Sistema de Oleoducto Transecuatoriano (SOTE) at 50 years and the Oleoducto Norperuano (ONP) at 45 years. Pipeline technology has changed dramatically since their construction, with improvements in steel alloys, welding […]
Major energy companies are becoming increasingly sensitive to drilling in high-risk environments such as the Arctic, Barents Sea and the Amazon Basin. A combination of highly volatile oil prices, a prolonged global supply glut, the arrival of peak oil .
The appalling state of Ecuador’s petroleum industry is not only highlighted by corroded pipeline infrastructure, lax regulation and regular oil spills as well as other hazardous emissions but also by the deterioration of the country’s refineries
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Ecuador Scrambles To Clean Up Its Oil Industry By Matthew Smith - Jan 06, 2021, 1:00 PM CST
The last year was difficult for Ecuador’s beaten-down hydrocarbon sector. Aside from the severe fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic and sharply weaker oil prices, the industry was rocked by yet another corruption scandal and a series of environmental disasters. Those events sharply impacted oil production, will deter urgently required investment and spark greater dissent among Ecuador’s indigenous communities. Like southern neighbor Peru, most of the equatorial country’s operational oilfields and infrastructure is in Ecuador’s portion of the Amazon basin. The region is inhabited by many indigenous communities who have become increasingly frustrated by the policies of Ecuador’s national government and the conduct of the petroleum industry. In Peru, growing dissatisfaction among many Amazonian communities with central government policies and the conduct of