Colombia Oil Pipeline

This article is part of the Global Fossil Infrastructure Tracker, a project of Global Energy Monitor.

Sub-articles:

FrackSwarm portal Coal terminals Coal transport and infrastructure Oil and gas pipelines LNG terminals Pipeline construction costs Methodology and data notes

Colombia Oil Pipeline, known locally as Oleoducto de Colombia or by its Spanish initials ODC, is an oil pipeline in Colombia.

Location

The pipeline runs from Vasconia Station (in Boyacá department) to the Coveñas export station (Sucre department), passing en route through La Trampa pump station in Caucasia (Antioquia department).

Loading map...

{"type":"ROADMAP","minzoom":false,"maxzoom":false,"types":["ROADMAP","SATELLITE","HYBRID","TERRAIN"],"mappingservice":"googlemaps3","width":"400px","height":"300px","centre":{"text":"","title":"","link":"","lat":8.548554895863132,"lon":-75.54716246883643,"icon":""},"title":"","label":"","icon":"","lines":[{"text":"","title":"","link":"","strokeColor":"#FF0000","strokeOpacity":"1","strokeWeight":"2","pos":[{"lat":6.06589,"lon":-74.558448},{"lat":6.354346,"lon":-74.5354},{"lat":6.551496,"lon":-74.4517},{"lat":6.737486,"lon":-74.4424},{"lat":6.925336,"lon":-74.4722},{"lat":7.03507,"lon":-74.5317},{"lat":7.182002,"lon":-74.6823},{"lat":7.286157,"lon":-74.7921},{"lat":7.536314,"lon":-74.9111},{"lat":7.735323,"lon":-75.0357},{"lat":7.977937,"lon":-75.221555},{"lat":8.257955,"lon":-75.4486},{"lat":8.438366,"lon":-75.5565},{"lat":8.684803,"lon":-75.6341},{"lat":8.989827,"lon":-75.6527},{"lat":9.279971,"lon":-75.6546},{"lat":9.410435,"lon":-75.6921142}]}],"polygons":[],"circles":[],"rectangles":[],"copycoords":false,"static":false,"visitedicon":"","wmsoverlay":false,"zoom":6,"layers":[],"controls":["pan","zoom","type","scale","streetview","rotate"],"zoomstyle":"DEFAULT","typestyle":"DEFAULT","autoinfowindows":false,"resizable":false,"kmlrezoom":false,"poi":true,"cluster":false,"clustergridsize":60,"clustermaxzoom":20,"clusterzoomonclick":true,"clusteraveragecenter":true,"clusterminsize":2,"imageoverlays":[],"kml":[],"gkml":[],"searchmarkers":"","fullscreen":false,"scrollwheelzoom":false,"locations":[]}

Project Details

• Operator: Oleoducto de Colombia S.A. (ODC)
• Owner: Cenit SAS (51.28%), Hocol SA (21.72%), Emerald Energy, Perenco, Frontera Energy, Repsol
• Parent Company: Ecopetrol (73%), Emerald Energy, Perenco, Frontera Energy, Repsol
• Current capacity: 236,000 barrels per day
• Length: 483 kilometers
• Diameter: 24 inches
• Status: Operating
• Start Year: 1992

Background

The 483-kilometer Oleoducto de Colombia (ODC) parallels the Oleoducto Ocensa from the Magdalena valley to Coveñas. Construction began in 1990, and the pipeline initiated commercial operations in July 1992. Ecopetrol is the pipeline's majority owner, with a 73% stake as of March 2020; minority owners include China’s Emerald Energy, France’s Perenco, Canada’s Frontera Energy and Spain’s Repsol.

In its first decade of operation, the pipeline's capacity was stated to be 150,000 bpd. As of August 2019 the pipeline's capacity was reported to be 236,000 bpd, and Oleoducto de Colombia's president Natalia De la Calle said that the company was prepared to increase pipeline capacity if necessary to accommodate new supplies from proposed future fracking operations. In its 2021 SEC filing, majority owner Ecopetrol SA listed the pipeline's capacity at 223,000 bpd, slightly lower than the 236,000 bpd reported in its 2020 SEC filing and in a 2017 report from Colombia's Ministry of Mines and Energy.

Environmental and community impact

During the pipeline's construction, major occurrences of soil erosion occurred coupled with significant loss of crops for peasants along the pipeline's path. Over 150 water sources were destroyed in the Zaragoza section of the pipeline. Families along the pipeline's route have sought compensation from ODC for these damages.