News of the 250km International Pipeline to connect Colombia to Ecuador’s infrastructure caught Putumayo residents by surprise, and their reactions in local press illustrate the complex challenge which is community and industry relations, and the staunch divisions between regions producing oil and those that watch it pass on the roadways.
“We are also part of the development of Putumayo, Huila and the country,” said the legal representative of one of Putumayo’s largest tanker truck firms in defense of the sector and the number of accidents, spills and discontent felt in these oil producing regions, where local leaders and residents have put the blame on tanker truckers for wrecking their communities and roads.
Colombia’s roads have become ground zero for conflicts between the oil industry and local communities, as production rises and trucks increase, so do problems, accidents and rejection of the large tankers. Here are some of the stories hitting press over the last week.
In Huila the issue of oil tankers on the roadways continues to draw the ire of local authorities, some of which have called on the national government to immediately suspend all oil tanker traffic in a meeting with national government officials.
The office of Alejandro Ordoñez, Colombia’s Inspector General, has met with leaders of three departments bearing the brunt of oil tanker traffic on their roads to form a work committee that will analyze this growing point of contention in oil producing regions.
Among the possible alternatives to ease transportation problems involving oil tanker-trucks are license plate restrictions that would limit when a specific truck could be on the roadway, while the authorities debate the controversial issue between different entities
The USO oil workers union says that the Barrancabermeja Refinery modernization project not start in 2015 despite promises last year from Ecopetrol (NYSE:EC). The NOC would neither confirm nor deny the rumors.
Colombia’s comptroller Sandra Morelli was back making rounds with radio stations this week while visiting Cartagena, criticizing what she says is the “poor planning” which has dogged the Cartagena Refinery (Reficar) project.
The governor of the Norte de Santander Department Édgar Díaz Contreras has proposed the construction of a micro-refinery with a capacity of 40,000bd to produce fuels for the region which is looking for alternatives after Venezuelan fuel sales were suspended last May.
A local newspaper in Putumayo published an opinion piece from a local community representative that questions the department’s ability to handle increased oil production, with doubts surrounding the authority’s ability to react to spills and its limited infrastructure.
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