Barrancabermeja Refinery celebrates 100 years as Colombia's development engine
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Barrancabermeja Refinery celebrates 100 years as Colombia's development engine
Feb 18, 2022
- This refinery is a strategic asset of the Nation. It serves 80% of the fuel demand in the interior of the country and supplies petrochemical products to the national industry.
- Between 2022 and 2024, investments equivalent to $3.2 billion pesos will be made in technology and innovation to meet the challenges of the energy transition.
- The municipal capital of Barrancabermeja will be one of the first territories with 5G technology in the country thanks to a joint work between Ecopetrol and Claro.
- By 2025, more than $250 billion will be allocated in social investment to improve the quality of life of the inhabitants of the area of influence.
The Barrancabermeja refinery, Colombia's main refining center, which today celebrates its first 100 years, will invest close to $3.2 trillion pesos between 2022 and 2024 to incorporate technology, modernization and reliability of its plants and environmental management. The objective is to consolidate Barrancabermeja as one of the most modern refining centers in the continent, with a safer, cleaner and more profitable operation.
The investments are aligned with the objectives of the Ecopetrol Group's new strategy 'Energy that transforms', which incorporates the opportunities and challenges brought about by the energy transition in terms of decarbonization of operations and the use of technology, with the purpose of strengthening the Group's competitiveness and sustainability in the long term.
The refinery's investment plan emphasizes circular water management, the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions and continued improvement in fuel quality, the incorporation of new technologies and renewable energies, the development of green and blue hydrogen, carbon capture, use and storage, and nature-based solutions, among others.
"In this way, the Barrancabermeja refinery will take important steps to continue with its transformation process with a focus on the modernization of its processes, digitalization, decarbonization of operations and energy transition, which will allow it to begin a new stage of growth and operational excellence to continue delivering the energy that moves Colombia," said Ecopetrol's president, Felipe Bayón.
As part of the centennial commemorative events, President Bayón announced that, in alliance with Claro and the support of the Ministry of Information and Communication Technologies, Ecopetrol is working on a pilot plan for the implementation of 5G technology in Barrancabermeja with which the speed of information through the network will be multiplied by 20 times in the municipal capital. This will anticipate the arrival of this technology to the city, making Barrancabermeja one of the first 5G territories in the country.
Additionally, the president of Ecopetrol announced that the program 'Bachilleres Ecopetrol Mario Galán Gómez' will grant scholarships in 2022 to 10 young people from Barrancabermeja with 100% of the cost of tuition at the higher education institution of their choice. These young people will join the students selected in the 32 departments of the country that this year will be part of the program, which has already benefited 1,602 students who have obtained the best results in the state tests.
Social and environmental commitment
As a sign of its commitment to the city and the region for the 2022-2025 period, Ecopetrol plans to invest more than $250 billion pesos in projects that continue to strengthen a solid relationship between the Company and the city. The objective is to continue strengthening the relationship between the population, social dynamics and the industry in a territory with more prosperity and development.
This historic investment plan in the District of Barrancabermeja reaffirms Ecopetrol's commitment to consolidate the long-term vision of the city as the axis of the integration of Magdalena Medio with strategic projects in drinking water, infrastructure, education and economic reactivation.
The contributions for the gastronomic market 'Mirador del Río', for the construction of the Technological Units of Santander, for the 'Distrito Malecón' project, for the equipment for the Regional Hospital of Magdalena Medio and for the methodological transfer for the Barrancabermeja Innovation and Technology Entrepreneurship Centers (BIT), among other initiatives, stand out.
Projects such as the construction of the Barrancabermeja Aqueduct Drinking Water Treatment Plant (PTAP) sludge plant, the construction of collectors for water sanitation, the paving of 4.9 km of urban roads in 64 stretches in 30 neighborhoods, among others, are currently being structured.
In addition, the refinery has also been making important investments that will contribute to this objective, in order to harmonize its operations with the environment.
Of note is the technological upgrade of the Industrial Waste Water Treatment Plant (PTAR), which continues to improve the quality of discharges into the Magdalena River, with an investment of USD$143 million (around $560 billion pesos), and the technological upgrade to improve the control of SOx emissions (gas combustion) in the sulfur units, which will contribute to improving air quality in Barrancabermeja, with investments of USD$100 million (around $390 billion).
During the anniversary, Ecopetrol also presented the "La Pacora Centennial Eco-reserve", which extends over 390 hectares, located in the villages of Campo Gala, San Silvestre and Campo Galán, and which ratifies the commitment to biodiversity, connectivity between ecosystems and sustainable development in Barrancabermeja.
La Pacora is part of a group of 9 new conservation areas that will be established in the short term in various regions of the country on Ecopetrol land, which completes the 15 Eco-reserves of the Ecopetrol Group in Colombia.
The refinery began operations on February 18, 1922 with a simple still that used firewood as a heat source to distill crude oil and a production of 1,500 barrels per day. One hundred years later, it has the capacity to process up to 250,000 barrels per day of crude oil into quality fuel products and petrochemicals such as aromatics, kerosenes and polyethylene.
The refinery supplies close to 80% of the country's domestic fuel demand. It consists of 54 refining units, 32 industrial services units, an optimization center from which its operations are commanded remotely and securely, and 351 storage tanks.
Barrancabermeja, February 18, 2022
