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Operations restored at Ecuador’s key pipelines but economic damage lingers
Operations have resumed at Ecuador’s two primary crude oil pipelines following the construction of bypass routes to address erosion issues on the Coca River. Pumping capacity has also been restored for the Oleoducto de Crudos Pesados (OCP) pipeline, which resumed operation on 23 July, and the Sistema de Oleoducto Transecuatoriano (SOTE) pipeline, which returned to service 26 July. This move was aimed at preventing further disruptions to crude output and protecting the nation’s economy. As a result, Ecuador was able to quickly restore its crude production from 32,000 barrels per day (bpd) of oil on 22 July to 464,000 bpd by 4 August, returning to normal levels within just two weeks.
Pipeline disruptions have severely impacted Ecuador’s crude production, with July output falling to 146,000 bpd - the country’s all-time lowest level, lower even than April 2020, when production dropped to 210,000 bpd due to the pandemic. The OCP and SOTE pipelines, which together transported an average of 460,000 bpd between January and May 2025, saw volumes fall to just 30% of normal daily throughput.
The resumption of pipeline operations has helped stabilize the country’s overall production curve, allowing field activities to accelerate once again. Production began to rise significantly from 27 July, following the restoration of both pipelines, and has continued to improve. As of 4 August, crude output had recovered to 464,458 bpd with state-owned EP Petroecuador-operated assets contributing 366,884 bpd and non-Petroecuador assets adding 97,573 bpd, nearly matching pre-July levels. The SOTE pipeline transported 261,000 bpd, and 101,800 bpd flowed through the OCP pipeline that day, indicating a return to normal operating capacity.
The suspension of pipeline operations in July led to the shutdown of the country's oil production from key license blocks. Overall production of Petroecuador-operated license blocks fell to 105,000 bpd, a significant drop of 70%, when compared to June levels. The country’s major oil-producing blocks, including Block 60 (Sacha), Block 61 (Auca), and Block 43 (ITT), which together contributed 40% to Ecuador’s overall crude output in June, experienced significant outages last month, with Blocks 60 and 61 not producing at all from 8 July to the end of the month. Rystad Energy estimates a nearly 115,000-bpd average daily production drop from the above-mentioned blocks in July, down 82% from the June average.
Authors:
Udayan Anand
Analyst, Upstream Research
udayan.anand@rystadenergy.com
Vadranam Sai Krishna
Analyst, Upstream Research
vadranam.krishna@rystadenergy.com
Radhika Bansal
Vice President, Upstream Research
radhika.bansal@rystadenergy.com
(The data and/or forecasts in this column are Rystad Energy's, and the opinions are of the authors.)
