Colombian state oil company Ecopetrol announced
that it has licensed a company based in the Colombian city of Popayan the
commercialization and post-sales service of a technology Ecopetrol developed to
separate sand and other solids from oil. The technology is called “Sistema
Desarenador Dinámico de Crudos,” and Ecopetrol explained that while solids can
be separated from oil naturally, this technology speeds up the process, reduces
costs, and eliminates the need for large tanks to store the oil as it
separates. According to the press release, Ecopetrol signed six licensing
agreements in 2014 for various proprietary technologies.
In more worrying oil industry news, American oil company
American Eagle Energy, a specialist in shale oil production, announced
that it is suspending all new exploration in Colombia due to the collapse in
global oil prices. The company added that it will not resume new explorations
until oil prices have recovered. Extracting oil from shale formations is a more
expensive, non-conventional procedure, so it is not surprising that this
section of the oil industry would be affected first.
In other news, Jorge Ospina, an official with the Colombian
Cerro Matodo Company, told Expres
that mining is not by definition incompatible with the environment. He argued
that Cerro Matodo has demonstrated for thirty years that sustainable and
environmentally-harmonious mining operations are possible.
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