The OCP transports 40 percent of Ecuador’s oil. Although much of it is underground, about 140 meters of the pipeline were exposed to the air on the left bank of the Coca River.

The Energy and Mines Ministry stated that the shutdown of the OCP operations resulted in a drop in oil production of about 100,000 barrels daily due to the inability to transport crude oil through that pipeline.

The company informed last week that two workers were killed due to a mudslide in the middle of works to restore the eroded pipeline.

The tragedy occurred in El Chaco Canton, in Napo province, on Thursday, June 27.

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