Ecopetrol delivers first oil to South Korea amid new export focus

Colombia's Ecopetrol has delivered its first cargo of crude oil to South Korea as it widens its base of Asian offtakers, the state-run company said on Monday. 

The 1Mb shipment of Colombian heavy-sour Castilla blend and medium-sour Vasconia crudes arrived at the eastern port of Daesan after a 46-day journey from the Caribbean port of Coveñas. 

"This transaction is framed within Ecopetrol's new business lines focused on offering comprehensive logistics schemes to our clients through proactive risk management, both price and operational," Ecopetrol commercial and marketing head Pedro Manrique said in a statement. 

Asia has been Ecopetrol's fastest growing export market as rising demand from China and India coincides with dwindling shipments to the US amid the latter’s shale boom. 

The Bogotá-based firm said it now sends 49% of its international crude oil to Asia, up from 8% in 2008. Meanwhile, the US currently represents 43% of Ecopetrol's foreign offtakers, down from 90% 12 years ago. 

In addition to state-run companies in China and private refiners across Asia, Ecopetrol has focused on burgeoning niche markets in Sweden, Spain and Ivory Coast. 

"This diversification has been the result of an investment plan carried out in the previous decade in order to adapt the maritime terminals and ensure the logistics required to serve large ships that covered routes to Asia and at the same time allow savings in transport to farther destinations," Ecopetrol said. 

It added that long-term contracts with strategic clients had helped to offset the impact of plummeting global energy demand caused by COVID-19.