The Real Scandals Behind the Oil Spill

Spilled out from Ecopetrol's Lizama 158 well poisons a nearby stream. (Photo: Vanguardia Liberal)

An abandoned oil well pouring out petroleum since the beginning of this month has generated angry headlines about animals killed, fishermen out of work and residents sickened. But the real scandal may be state oil company EcoPetrol's alleged irresponsible handling of its exhausted wells.

The Lizama 158 oil well in Santander Department has been pouring out oil, much of it into a nearby river, since the start of March. At least 550 barrels of oil - according to the company - and perhaps as many as 23,000 barrels - according to the National Environmental Licensing Agency (ANLA) - have spilled out.

Ecopetrol has speculated that a nearby tectonic shift could have triggered the leak. But whatever the immediate cause of this spill, the press scrutiny has exposed a much larger scandal. According to multiple Controlaria reports, Ecopetrol frequently failed to seal exhausted oil wells, leaving the wells a threat to pour petroleum onto their surroundings.

How many times will this disaster be repeated? How many Ecopetrol wells are leaking away into the jungle?

The accompanying scandal here is the, despite the repeated Controlaria reports, apparently no government enforcement entity bothered to force Ecopetrol to obey the law.

How many other environmental regulations are being ignored, setting the scene for future disasters?

It's worth pointing out, too, that even when it's not spilled into the jungle, oil is an environmental disaster all along its life cycle: Even the cleanest oil wells often require road and pipeline construction, opening the wilderness to farmers and deforestation.

And the oil that is processed 'correctly' will ultimately be burned, polluting the air and contributing to global warming.

The best solution for the environment is not to finally seal well Lizama 158, but to end our addiction to oil.

Meanwhile, yesterday El Espectador printed this impactful article about Colombia's worst environmental disasters. As the paper points out, the leaking oil well is a minor disaster compared to Colombia's terrible deforestation rate, the innumerable rivers destroyed by illegal mining, and the Ciénaga Grande, a wetland on the Caribbean coast, is being steadily killed by roads, dikes and canals.

By Mike Ceaser, of Bogotá Bike Tours

Tough Times for EcoPetrol

A sick iguana?

The price of its main product has plummeted, its reserves are declining, and it's embroiled in a corruption scandal.

These are tough times for Colombia's national oil company, EcoPetrol.

Any company would be devastated if the value of its principle product suddenly dropped by more than half. But the plummeting world oil price comes at an already difficult time for EcoPetrol, which, along with associated private companies, pumps the great majority of Colombia's oil. And oil until recently generated most of Colombia's export revenue.

Colombia's oil reserves - the petroleum underground which could be profitably drilled - is shrinking because of scarce new discoveries. And the plummeting oil price has caused EcoPetrol to slash its exploration budget, meaning that even less new oil will likely be found.

Colombian oil potential during the 1990s.
Things are no longer so rosy.

At the same time, the emblematic Colombian company is embroiled in a mushrooming bribery scandal. Executives of a United States oil services company, PetroTiger, allegedly paid bribes to an EcoPetrol executive's wife in an attempt to obtain valuable contracts.

PetroTiger's founders have been indicted in a U.S. federal court. One of them, as well as a company lawyer, have plead guilty, but the other founder is fighting the charges.

However, the PetroTiger affair may be only the tip of a corruption iceberg inside EcoPetrol, according to news reports.

EcoPetrol's stock value, which had soared about 5,000 pesos in 2013, has dropped to around 2,000 pesos.

The national oil company's troubles have major implications for Colombia's economy, which will lose several points of GDP, as well as its peace process, which requires huge investments to demobilize guerrilla fighters and compensate victims.

Colombia will muddle thru this economic hit, (altho neighbor Venezuela may not be so lucky). But the episode contains valuable - and obvious - lessons, such as 'Don't put all your eggs in one basket,' and 'Develop a diversified economy not based on exporting raw materials.'

That way, Colombia might save its economy - and its environment as well.

By Mike Ceaser, of Bogotá Bike Tours

Protesting Against a Pipeline

Protesting on the front steps of EcoPetrol.

As the Santos administration charges ahead with its plans to make Colombia a big exporter of oil, coal and other natural resources, more than a few rural communities and natural wonders are getting trampled on.

For the most part, I suspect, we never hear from those victims.

But today a group of people from Puente Nacional in Santander Department showed up on the doorstep of EcoPetrol to protest against the construction of a new pipeline and pumping station would cause what they consider to be a sort of ecocide.

Countryside near Puente Nacional,
Santander Dept.
(Photo: PuenteNacional.com)

According to the protesters, the construction of the 8-kilometer-long pipeline will mean cutting down some 3,000 trees along a path 33 meters wide. The pipeline's track will damage 14 streams, as well as wetlands, the critics say.

While this is a small environmental attack, I suspect that it's being repeated in similar ways across Colombia and the rest of the continent.

But few of the human victims - and none of the trees - have the resources and sophistication to protest on Facebook and on the front steps of Ecopetrol.

An anti-oil drilling mural
on Calle 26 in Bogotá.

By Mike Ceaser, of Bogotá Bike Tours