Colombia’s state-run Ecopetrol has more than doubled the capacity of its Transandino pipeline after inaugurating a $2.9 million high-altitude pumping station that will cut costs for oil produced in the country’s south.
The Planta Paramo pumping station, perched 3,050 meters high (1.9 miles) on one of the Andean ridges crossing the country, will enable 85,000 barrels of crude to be pumped daily to Tumaco terminal on the Pacific coast, which serves Asian markets.
An Ecopetrol official said the extra capacity would eventually be needed once production started from projects in the southern province of Putumayo and that the 305 km pipeline would significantly lower transport costs.