On December 10, the Mayor of Medellín, Federico Gutiérrezcalled a press conference in the building of EPMwhere he pointed out that several service stations in the capital of Antioquia and other areas were experiencing a gasoline shortage problem.
The Medellin president, who also used the space to ensure that the entire country is facing an unprecedented crisis in the energy and natural gas sector, directed the responsibility to National Government.
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According to ‘Fico’, this problem would be a direct reflection of what would be an operational deficiency within the state oil company Ecopetrol. He stated that these operational deficiencies would be proof that “They are ending Ecopetrol“.
Under this order of ideas, the mayor of Medellín demanded a statement from the hydrocarbon company regarding what is happening with fuel and why shortages are occurring at service stations in the capital of Antioquia and in other areas of the country. country.
Federico Gutierrez
“Look now at how these operational deficiencies end up influencing people’s daily lives. That Ecopetrol and the government inform the country what is happening; that guarantee the supply of gasoline that people need to get around. It is urgent that they provide a solution“said Federico Gutiérrez.
After the statements of the mayor of Medellín, Terpelthe leading company in fuel distribution volume in Colombia, issued a statement regarding the gasoline shortage reported by Gutiérrez.
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“Faced with the situation that occurs in some Terpel service stations in Medellín, the company is pleased to inform that due to delays in the delivery of product to the La María Plant, beyond the control of Terpel, some stations in the city have been temporarily affected. During the day the fuel supply to the stations will be normalized“explained the distributor.
Therefore, the mayor of Medellín requested explanations from the state oil company as a participant in all links of the hydrocarbon chain in Colombia, and the leading distributor in fuel volume points out that it is a delivery problem.
Gasoline.
Ecopetrol’s explanation
EL TIEMPO was able to communicate with Ecopetrol representativeswho began by emphasizing the explanations of the mayor of Medellín, mentioning that they were aware of them.
Later, the representatives of the oil company explained that the situation is already known to the Hydrocarbons Directorate of the Ministry of Mines and Energydivision of this portfolio in charge of coordinating the fuel supply chain throughout the country.
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Then, they mentioned that there are three factors that explain the low inventories that occurred in the capital of Antioquia and in other cities at the beginning of the week of December 9.
“A few weeks ago there was an electrical problem in the Salgar-Mansilla section, specifically in the Villeta pipeline, through which fuel moves to Mansilla, which is one of the nodes where almost all wholesale distributors for the center of the country load. This pipeline was offline for several hours, this electrical problem has been intermittent“, they explained from the company.
Ecopetrol
Likewise, the oil company’s spokespersons clarified that this situation is the responsibility of Zenitha subsidiary of Ecopetrol and the company in charge of transporting fuel through pipelines throughout the national territory, as this is one of its lines.
As they explain, the second factor that has caused the shortage in Medellín are the different blockades on national roadswhich prevent wholesalers from taking the fuel that arrives at the plants and transferring it to the tank trucks at the service stations.
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“It is an issue of social unrest that has prevented recurring supply from being made, leading them to consume their inventories.“, they explained from Ecopetrol.
The last factor that had an impact on the low gasoline inventories in the city has to do with a regulatory element that wholesale distributors would be taking advantage of to close the year with low inventories.
Medellin
“The thing is that the standard, although it requires wholesalers to have sheet storage capacity, does not require that this sheet be backed by product. When you tell any wholesaler that you have to have capacity for 10 days, they tell you ‘yes, here is the capacity’, but they have no product because the standard does not require full tanks.“, they pointed out from the oil company.
According to what was explained by Ecopetrol, this is a gap in the regulatory framework established in the Decree 1073 of 2015which obliges wholesale distributors to guarantee the inventory of each of their products, in the different supply plants, at 30% of their monthly dispatch volume.
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That is, this requires having contracted or built sheet, but it does not require wholesalers to have inventorysince there is no recognition of this or a capital cost, this would lead to distributors working with operating minimums.
And working with the minimum, as mentioned by Ecopetrol, means that when contingencies arise, distributors are left ‘dry’ and shortages are generated.
In addition to this, knowledgeable sources in the hydrocarbon sector explained that “At the end of the year, no one wants to work with high inventories, but with receipt-delivery”.
The defense of wholesalers
On the other hand, EL TIEMPO established contact with the Colombian Oil and Gas Association (ACP)an organization that represents the majority of wholesale fuel distributors, to explain, from their point of view, the factors that led to the gasoline shortage in Medellín.
The ACP spokesmen began by pointing out that “if there is a deficiency in the normal operation of any upstream link ―in reference to what was mentioned by the mayor of Medellín―, there will be problems downstream“.
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Gasoline
The organization added: “One of the main events is that there have been failures in the oil pipelines, attacks, really. These (the pipelines) are the ones that carry the crude oil to feed the refineries and produce the fuel there. This has meant that the refinery cannot deliver all of the nominated product.”.
In addition, the ACP mentioned that there have been a series of events that have influenced the transportation of fuel. Failures in oil pipelines that have affected loads at refineries, the installation of illicit valves, low safety inventories in the transportation system and force majeure events due to winter They would be the causes of the fuel delays that wholesalers receive according to this organization.
“The distribution of liquid fuels is a logistics chain, it is a work of continuous coordination between all agents: refiner, transportation, wholesalers and retailers“explained the ACP.
PORTFOLIO
*With information from EL TIEMPO
