Ecopetrol achieves new verification of a reduction of 687 thousand tons in CO2 emissions

This Ecopetrol release was published using machine translation.

Ecopetrol obtained a new international verification of a reduction of 687,769 equivalent tons of Greenhouse Gas emissions (tCO2e) by the audit firm Ruby Canyon Engineering, endorsed by the Mexican Accreditation Entity (EMA) and the American National Standards Institute (ANSI ).

If the volume verified the previous year of 1,068,395 tCO2e is taken into account, the Company already completes verifications of GHG emissions for 1,756,163 tCO2e. In environmental terms, this reduction is equivalent to restoring and conserving a primary forest of 35,000 hectares.

The supported initiatives are located in the La Cira-Infantas and Casabe fields, the Barrancabermeja refinery and other operations in Meta.

In the case of La Cira-Infantas, a field located in Magdalena Medio and operated in association with OXY, verification of a reduction of 178,099 tCO2e in the 2010-2016 period was achieved thanks to the use of gas energy.

At the Barrancabermeja Refinery, a decrease of 456,892 tCO2e was verified between 2018 and 2019 thanks to its energy efficiency program, and in the Casabe field, 15,353 tCO2e due to self-generation of energy in that same period of time.

On the other hand, in the Meta 37,425 tCO2e were verified, reduced in the period 2017–2019 by the generation of energy from biomass from sugarcane bagasse.

The Company is also making progress in other initiatives that contribute to the reduction of greenhouse gases, such as the entry into operation of the Castilla solar park in Meta, which supplies part of the energy that some of its operations demand, and hopes to generate more than 300 megawatts in the coming years from renewable sources.

"The Ecopetrol Group advances in the implementation of its decarbonisation plan, through which we seek to reduce environmental impacts, contribute to the mitigation of climate change, ensure low-carbon operations and continue to make progress in the energy transition," said Felipe Bayón , President of Ecopetrol.

The Ecopetrol Group aims to reduce 20% of its GHG emissions by 2030, in accordance with the contribution foreseen by Colombia in the Paris Agreement, in the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.