Ecopetrol Endorses Initiative To Eliminate Gas Flaring

(Ecopetrol, 30.Jan.2020) — Ecopetrol has adhered to the Bank World-let initiative called “Zero Routine Flaring by 2030”, whose goal is to eliminate the routine flaring of gas in the oil and gas fields as soon as possible and no later than 2030.

The initiative, which was introduced by the World Bank in 2015, brings together 32 governments, 15 development institutions and 37 oil and gas companies including Shell, BP, Eni, Equinor, Petrobras, Total and Repsol, among others, in order to voluntarily reduce emissions from burning gas flares.

The endorsement of “Zero Routine Flaring by 2030” is aligned with the Paris Agreement as well as Goal 13 of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals on climate action. It also ratifies Ecopetrol’s commitment to reduce its greenhouse emissions by 20% by 2030 and continue with the implementation of its decarbonization plan.

This plan seeks to reduce and offset the Company’s emissions, by setting in motion projects for energy efficiency, renewable energy, reduction of flare burnings and venting and fugitive emissions, as well as the offset of emissions through forest carbon projects employing nature-based solutions.     

“The endorsement of this World Bank initiative is one further step in the energy transition strategy being carried out by Ecopetrol, where we have committed to being leaders in the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions in Colombia and increasing the energy we generate thru renewable sources like the sun and wind. This path to ‘decarbonization’ that we have mapped out in our strategy for the coming years complements those achievements already accomplished regarding the fuel quality, which translates into better air quality in our cities,” stated Felipe Bayón, president of Ecopetrol.

The main commitment of Zero Routine Flaring are: to not routinely flare gas in new oil field developments, to end routine flaring at existing oil production sites as soon as possible and to report annually the volume of flaring to the Global Gas Flaring Reduction Partnership, a specialized entity that supports the efforts of countries to reduce gas flaring and venting.

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