Ecuador’s SOTE Pipeline Transported 54.7 Million Barrels in H1 2026, Marking 17.5% Increase Despite National Production Decline

The transport volume increase contradicts broader sectoral performance indicators. Ecuador’s Central Bank reported the mining and petroleum sector contracted 1.4% year-over-year in May 2026, attributing the decline to lower national crude production affected by operational factors and natural decline in mature fields, alongside reduced copper exports. This disconnect between pipeline throughput and overall production metrics indicates the 2026 figures benefit from a low comparison baseline rather than fundamental production growth.

The SOTE system, operational since June 1972, maintains capacity to transport 355,000 barrels daily from 28 petroleum blocks in the Ecuadorian Amazon—15 operated by EP Petroecuador and 13 managed by private companies. The infrastructure moves crude from Amazonian fields to storage, refining, and export facilities, functioning as critical infrastructure for state budget revenues derived from petroleum sales.

EP Petroecuador has implemented permanent infrastructure protection measures including comprehensive maintenance planning, continuous geotechnical monitoring, construction of containment works, expansion of pipeline protection corridors, and development studies for a definitive alternative route in the eastern sector. These initiatives respond to recurring disruptions that affected operations throughout 2025, when pipeline ruptures and mandatory maintenance work interrupted transport flows.

The operational continuity achieved in the first half of 2026 enabled higher utilization of existing pipeline capacity, though Ecuador’s petroleum sector continues confronting challenges in sustaining production growth trajectories. The divergence between increased transport volumes and declining national output underscores the complexity of evaluating performance in a sector still providing essential revenue streams for Ecuador’s national budget while facing structural operational constraints.