Ecopetrol will be water neutral by 2045
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Ecopetrol will be water neutral by 2045
Mar 22, 2022
- Actions include zero discharges, a 66% reduction in water collection and offsetting 34% of residual water consumption.
- Making headway in research to optimize water use and wastewater management.
- Working with Accenture and AWS towards the construction of an analytics and artificial intelligence platform to manage this resource efficiently.
Ecopetrol adopted the commitment to become water neutral by 2045 through a 66% reduction in the fresh water collected for industrial use of its operations, eliminating discharges into freshwater bodies and offsetting 34% of residual water consumption.
The company strives for greater operational efficiency in managing this resource, and therefore has committed to reducing the volume of water required to operate, recirculating it in operations, reusing treated production water in other productive processes such as agriculture, forestry and/or industry, and exploring alternative sources of supply such as wastewater, seawater and deep aquifers.
Simultaneously, it has been making headway in researching cost-efficient solutions to improve the quality of effluents, water enrichment with nanofertilizers and identifying deep aquifers to support the reduction in fresh water use, ratifying in this way its commitment to using technology as a key element in its sustainability strategy.
Likewise, in cooperation with Accenture and Amazon Web Services (AWS), it is working in the construction of an open data platform for water management that incorporates analytics and artificial intelligence capabilities along with cloud storage, to encourage efficient use and management of this resource in the oil & gas industry.
Moreover, it will offset residual water consumption through initiatives for conserving hydrographic basins and joint efforts towards water security.
“To achieve water neutral means reaching a balance between the water we require to operate and the actions that reduce pressure on this resource, and offsetting 100% of consumption in our facilities through projects in water basins,” said Ana Cristina Sánchez, Environmental Manager of Ecopetrol.
By yearend 2021, the company had achieved the recirculation of over 111 million cubic meters of water, which is equal to 74% of the total required to operate.
Last year it also implemented various initiatives that allowed it to reduce collection volumes by approximately 3.9 million cubic meters annually. Noteworthy among this is the Casabe field project, located in Antioquia, which reduced collection by achieving the recirculation of 100% of its production water.
With respect to discharges, by 2021 all discharges from the Chichimene, Casabe, Llanito, Orito, Tisquirama and Provincia production fields were eliminated, amounting to 7.4 million cubic meters per year of treated production water that no longer will be discharged into bodies of water.
Bogota, March 22, 2022
