BOGOTA (Reuters) – Colombia’s Cano Limon-Covenas pipeline was bombed by unknown actors, operator Cenit said in a statement on Tuesday, prolonging the suspension of pumping crude between oil fields in the country’s northeast and the Caribbean coast, where the oil is exported.
The attack occurred in a rural part of the Saravena municipality, located in Arauca province, and Cenit, a subsidiary of majority-state-owned oil company Ecopetrol, implemented an emergency containment plan.
Colombia’s military is working to secure the area, Cenit added.
Cenit did not attribute the attack to any particular group. According to the military, guerrillas of the National Liberation Army (ELN) and FARC dissidents who reject a 2016 peace deal with the government operate in the area.
Pumping along the pipeline has been suspended since April 14 due to other attacks. Restarting operations will depend on the military’s ability to secure the area where the attacks took place while repairs continue.
The Cano Limon-Covenas pipeline, which can transport up to 210,000 barrels of oil per day and runs along Colombia’s northern border with Venezuela, was attacked 13 times last year, leading to fires and contamination of the surrounding area.
(Reporting by Luis Jaime Acosta; Writing by Oliver Griffin; Editing by Leslie Adler)
