Ecopetrol to boost capacity at Cartagena refinery

Colombia's state-run oil company Ecopetrol is pushing ahead with plans to raise capacity at its Cartagena refinery despite the coronavirus pandemic, a senior executive said on Thursday. 

The expansion will integrate the refinery's original 50,000b/d crude unit with the avant-garde 150,000b/d Reficar complex that was completed in 2015 at a cost of US$8bn. 

"This project has been maintained and it is being executed," Ecopetrol's refinery head Walter Canova said in a webinar held by Latin American oil and gas association Arpel. 

"The idea is to put it into operation in the first half of 2022, which would allow us to increase capacity to 200,000b/d." 

Ecopetrol previously said the project would require investment of US$85mn. 

Colombia currently has 400,000b/d of refining capacity, including the 250,000b/d Barrancabermeja facility in central Santander department, also operated by Ecopetrol.

The refineries are currently operating at 90% capacity, up from 70% when lockdown measures were most severe in April, according to Canova.

But the public health crisis has forced Ecopetrol to slash its 2020 capex guidance for refineries by 40%. Meanwhile, the company envisages average margins of US$6-8/b for its refined products this year.

"That, without doubt, puts a lot of pressure on us in terms of our operating costs," Canova added.