Pascuales-Cuenca Pipeline

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Pascuales-Cuenca Pipeline is an operating NGL and refined oil products pipeline in Ecuador.

Location

The pipeline runs from the Pascuales Station in Guayas to the Cuenca Terminal in Azuay.

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Project details

• Operator: EP Petroecuador
• Owner: EP Petroecuador
• Parent company: EP Petroecuador
• Capacity:
  • Pascuales-La Troncal Segment: 46,500 barrels per day
  • La Troncal-Cuenca Segment: 30,800 barrels per day
• Length: 210 km
  • Pascuales-La Troncal Segment: 102 km
  • La Troncal-Cuenca Segment: 108 km
• Diameter: 10, 8 inches
  • Pascuales-La Troncal Segment: 10 inches
  • La Troncal-Cuenca Segment: 8 inches
• Status: Operating (LPG transport had to be suspended in 2018 due to infrastructural problems in the LPG terminal)
• Start year: 2013 (Construction), 2016 operating
• Cost: US$623 million
• Financing:
• Associated infrastructure:

Background

The construction of the Pascuales-Cuenca pipeline began in 2013. The pipeline was planned to be finished in 2015, but due to delays it began operations in 2016, 12 months after the planned start date. As with construction time, final construction costs exceeded the planned budget, from an expected US$272 million to US$623 million. The pipeline was built by Odebrecht to supply LPG and refined oil products from Guayaquil to southern Ecuador.

Infrastructure problems and lawsuits

A few months after the pipeline began operating, the LPG terminal in Cuenca began exhibiting problems with its infrastructure. Shortly after, in 2018, Petroecuador had to suspend the shipment of LPG from the terminal. In 2020, Ecuador sued Odebrecht for US$281 million for infrastructural problems with the Pascuales-Cuenca pipeline, after having determined, in 2019, that the construction didn't comply with international standards for its operation. In turn, the Brazilian company sued the Ecuadorian State for US$174 million for its unilateral breach of contract.

As of 2021, an article reported that Petroecuador had spent US$90 million to avoid the collapse of the Cuenca terminal and the Pascuales-Cuenca pipeline, which was said to have a "high risk of total collapse", according to a report published by the Government's Accountability Office.

In 2023, the terminal's two 170-tonne LPG spheres were considered an immediate risk, so Petroecuador began works to move them to the El Chorrillo LPG terminal in the Province of Guayas. The cost of their removal and transfer is estimated to be US$20.6 million. As of February 2023, Petroecuador had 510 days to complete the spheres' transfer to the Guayas terminal.

After the removal of the LPG storage spheres, Petroecuador must complete a study to determine the damage to the terminal's soils and groundwater, followed by remediation and water treatment operations.

As of 2023, the Pascuales-Cuenca pipeline was working at 83% of its capacity.