Studies set to begin for Colombia fuel pipeline

Colombia’s government has awarded a study on the technical and economic feasibility of building a 300km multipurpose fuel pipeline in the southwest that would help guarantee supplies during contingencies.

Information from energy mining planning unit UPME shows that Delvasto y Echeverria Asociados Consultores picked up the four-month contract, a call for which was issued in July.

The pipeline would run from Yumbo in Valle del Cauca department to Pasto, the capital of Nariño department, and would transport gasoline, diesel, jet fuel and LPG, which is currently trucked along this corridor with subsidies from the government.

UPME highlights that “due to the absence of storage and pipeline transportation infrastructure for liquid fuels in Cauca, as well as Nariño, it is not possible to provide uninterrupted supply services in the region, principally during periods of blockades and civil society uprisings.”

The government agency adds that Colombia's 2018-22 national development plan calls for the review of fuel transport subsidies as part of efforts to seek “fiscal sustainability” and competitive pricing.

Demand for refined products is forecast to hit 423,000b/d in 2035 compared with 302,000b/d last year, according to state oil company Ecopetrol's hydrocarbons transport unit Cenit.

Cenit operates Colombia’s multipurpose pipeline network, which stretches for 3,700km and sees demand-driven opportunities that include potential to expand the capacity of systems with high usage rates; the construction of new tanks at Sebastopol, Yumbo and Pozo Colorados; and the possibility of converting crude pipelines to move refined products.

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Pictured: Cenit multipurpose fuel pipeline (CREDIT: Cenit)