Colombia cancels 3-4 cargoes of Vasconia crude after rebel bombings: sources
Houston (Platts)--1Jul2015/406 pm EDT/2006 GMT
Colombia's state-run oil company Ecopetrol was heard to have canceled three or four cargoes of Vasconia due to rebel bombings of the Bicentenario and Cano Limon pipelines, market sources said Wednesday.
While word of the cancellation emerged in the market this week, Ecopetrol declared force majeure on the pipelines at an undisclosed date sometime in the last two weeks, according to a source close to the company.
Vasconia usually loads in 500,000-barrel clips from the port of Covenas.
The country's 220,000 b/d Cano Limon pipeline was shut June 16 after three separate bomb attacks in the province of North Santander caused major spills.
The 780-km Cano Limon pipeline transports around 70,000 b/d of crude that is pumped from the Cano Limon oil field to the Caribbean port of Covenas, where the 23-24 API Vasconia crude is exported. The field is operated by Occidental Petroleum in eastern Colombia's Arauca province, but Ecopetrol handles its exports.
Cano Limon was also the name of a crude that used to be exported from Colombia, but due to production declines the crude is blended into the Vasconia streams, making it less dense.
Colombian crude is also transported via the 140,000 b/d Bicentenario Pipeline which ties into the Cano Limon line at Banadia. The Bicentenario line is a major transport route for heavy crudes pumped in eastern Meta and Casanare provinces.
Colombian guerrillas have stepped up their attacks in recent weeks, attacking numerous oil installations and pipelines in the country.
The insurgent group FARC is negotiating a peace agreement with government representatives in Havana, Cuba, after calling off a five-month unilateral cease-fire May 22. Analysts believe the new wave of attacks is meant to force the government to agree to a bilateral cease-fire, an idea the government has rejected so far.
Market sources said Wednesday there has been a price response to the bombings because of less volumes of Vasconia available in the market.
One trader heard Pacific Rubiales award a tender Wednesday for Vasconia and Castilla crude at ICE minus $5.29/b and ICE minus $9.38/b, respectively, loading in the second half of August.
Platts assessed Colombia's mid-grade Vasconia on Wednesday at the Latin ICE strip minus $5.35/b, or $57.355, up 30 cents in differential.
--Jacqueline Puig, jacqueline.puig@platts.com --Luciano Battistini, luciano battistini@platts.com --Edited by Jason Lindquist, jason.lindquist@platts.com
While word of the cancellation emerged in the market this week, Ecopetrol declared force majeure on the pipelines at an undisclosed date sometime in the last two weeks, according to a source close to the company.
Vasconia usually loads in 500,000-barrel clips from the port of Covenas.
The country's 220,000 b/d Cano Limon pipeline was shut June 16 after three separate bomb attacks in the province of North Santander caused major spills.
The 780-km Cano Limon pipeline transports around 70,000 b/d of crude that is pumped from the Cano Limon oil field to the Caribbean port of Covenas, where the 23-24 API Vasconia crude is exported. The field is operated by Occidental Petroleum in eastern Colombia's Arauca province, but Ecopetrol handles its exports.
Cano Limon was also the name of a crude that used to be exported from Colombia, but due to production declines the crude is blended into the Vasconia streams, making it less dense.
Colombian crude is also transported via the 140,000 b/d Bicentenario Pipeline which ties into the Cano Limon line at Banadia. The Bicentenario line is a major transport route for heavy crudes pumped in eastern Meta and Casanare provinces.
Colombian guerrillas have stepped up their attacks in recent weeks, attacking numerous oil installations and pipelines in the country.
The insurgent group FARC is negotiating a peace agreement with government representatives in Havana, Cuba, after calling off a five-month unilateral cease-fire May 22. Analysts believe the new wave of attacks is meant to force the government to agree to a bilateral cease-fire, an idea the government has rejected so far.
Market sources said Wednesday there has been a price response to the bombings because of less volumes of Vasconia available in the market.
One trader heard Pacific Rubiales award a tender Wednesday for Vasconia and Castilla crude at ICE minus $5.29/b and ICE minus $9.38/b, respectively, loading in the second half of August.
Platts assessed Colombia's mid-grade Vasconia on Wednesday at the Latin ICE strip minus $5.35/b, or $57.355, up 30 cents in differential.
--Jacqueline Puig, jacqueline.puig@platts.com --Luciano Battistini, luciano battistini@platts.com --Edited by Jason Lindquist, jason.lindquist@platts.com
Product Finder
 |  |  |  |  |  |  |
No comments:
Post a Comment
Please leave a comment-- or suggestions, particularly of topics and places you'd like to see covered