QUITO, Jan 29 (Reuters) – OCP Ecuador, the operator of Ecuador’s privately held heavy crude pipeline, suspended pumping crude on Saturday as a preventative measure after it ruptured in the Amazon, and began cleaning and repairs.
The burst happened late on Friday in the Piedra Fina zone, an area in Ecuador’s Amazon where regressive erosion caused the OCP pipeline and the state-owned SOTE pipeline to halt pumping in December, forcing the government to declare force majeure over its oil exports and production.
“OCP Ecuador S.A. informs that the pumping of crude oil has been stopped as a preventive measure, and that it will be restarted when the conditions are right,” the company said in a statement.
Remedial action includes containing the spilled crude so it cannot contaminate bodies of water, the company said. Repairs had also begun on the tube, it said.
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