Colombia’s largest oil company, Ecopetrol, warned Thursday of possible restrictions on gas supplies in the northeast of the country following several bomb attacks on an oil pipeline that authorities have attributed to the National Liberation Army guerrilla group.
Ecopetrol did not specify how many municipalities would be affected, but said in a statement that it is working to “minimize the impact on its users.”
The Ministry of Mines and Energy reported on Thursday that workers are carrying out repairs in different parts of the Caño Limón-Coveñas oil pipeline, protected by the security forces.
Caño Limón-Coveñas is one of the country’s main oil pipelines, with a 780-kilometer pipeline that runs through several eastern departments, making it difficult for law enforcement to fully monitor it.
The oil pipeline has been attacked by the ELN for decades with explosions that affect its pipes and sometimes spill crude oil into water sources. With these actions and the installation of illegal valves, they steal crude oil and affect the country’s main oil company.
On Monday, Cenit, a subsidiary of the Ecopetrol Group, confirmed five attacks with explosives, three on the Caño Limón-Coveñas oil pipeline and two on the Bicentenario Pipeline in the department of Arauca, with no injuries reported.
The ELN and the government have been trying to negotiate peace since 2022, when Gustavo Petro, the first leftist president in Colombia, took power. However, The negotiating table is paralyzed since March following mutual accusations of alleged non-compliance, and a bilateral ceasefire ended in July.
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