Major Colombian Oil Pipeline Attacked, Yet Again

Colombia’s Cano Limon Coveñas oil pipeline has been attacked yet again, disrupting shipments and causing an oil spill in the Catatumbo river.

The leftist Fuerza Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia, or FARC, was founded in 1964 and is the Western hemisphere's longest-running guerrilla movement, are suspected of being behind the attack.

In the past the Cano Limon Coveñas oil pipeline acquired the local nickname “la flauta,” (“the flute,”) for its numerous punctures from repeated guerrilla assaults.

On the Venezuelan side of the border, Petroleos de Venezuela SA (PDVSA) workers are monitoring the situation, Empresa Colombiana de Petroleos (Ecopetrol) reported. Ecopetrol staff are working to control the spill and collect the spilled petroleum.

The assault is a worrying sign for Colombian authorities in the capital Bogota that the FARC’s military operations are intensifying, as FARC assaults over the weekend in the southwestern Cauca department left at least six people dead and  nearly 80 wounded.

Another FARC tactic is kidnapping. Colombian government officials reported that on 12 July two Colombian politicians, municipal candidates Ferney Santizabal and Dagoberto Ojeda, were seized along with 18 other people as they were travelling along the country's Pacific coast. While the Colombian navy found the hostages, the two politicians kidnapped on a beach near the town of Solahonda remain missing.

By. Joao Peixe, Deputy Editor OilPrice.com