Colombia’s Minister of Trade, Industry and Tourism Diana Morales said at a press conference that her government is reviewing which additional Ecuadorian products will be subject to the new tariffs. Photo by Carlos Ortega/EPA
Ecuador confirmed a retaliatory 900% increase in the tariff it charges to transport Colombian crude oil through its petroleum infrastructure, raising the cost to $30 per barrel from $3 — a move that has deepened bilateral tensions in the energy and trade spheres.
The measure was confirmed Monday by Ecuador’s Minister of Environment and Energy Ines Manzano, who said the new rate applies to Colombian crude that moves through the Transecuadorian Oil Pipeline System, known by its Spanish acronym SOTE, which is owned by Ecuador. She said the increase took effect Friday.
“The tariff rose from $3 to $30 in reciprocity for Colombia’s decision to suspend the sale of electricity,” Manzano said in an interview with local radio station Sucesos.
The dispute between the two countries began after President Daniel Noboa’s government announced it would impose a 30% tariff on Colombian products. Ecuador justified the move by arguing that Colombia has not done enough to combat drug trafficking along the shared border and framed it as a trade protection measure.
Bogota responded with retaliatory steps, including the suspension of electricity supplies to Ecuador, which relies on imports to cover part of its power demand.
The SOTE is one of Ecuador’s two main oil pipelines and is operated by state-owned Petroecuador. The system transports crude from southern Colombia to the Ecuadorian port of Esmeraldas, on the Pacific Coast, for export to international markets, according to Colombia’s La Republica newspaper.
“Ecuador is providing a service of high strategic value to Ecopetrol,” Manzano said.
“This is an area where illicit activities occur and where numerous attacks have been recorded, so transporting the crude through our territory has allowed it to reach international markets,” she added.
According to figures cited by Ecuadorian outlet Primicias, about 10,300 barrels per day of Colombian oil were transported through the SOTE in November, including from Ecopetrol and private companies.
Ecuador also operates the Heavy Crude Oil Pipeline, known as OCP, which transports oil for private companies. Because it operates under separate commercial contracts, its tariff was not modified.
Colombia relies on Ecuadorian infrastructure, which provides one of the fastest and safest routes to export oil from fields in the country’s south. Using Ecuador’s pipelines reduces transit times, overland transport costs and risks associated with longer domestic routes.
For more than a decade, Ecuador has been a key logistics partner for Colombia’s oil industry, providing direct access to international markets through the Pacific.
In response to Ecuador’s decision to raise the tariff on crude oil transportation, the Colombian government decided Tuesday to impose a 30% tariff on a range of products from Ecuador that were not included in the first round of measures, according to Caracol Radio.
Minister of Trade, Industry and Tourism Diana Morales said at a press conference that the government is reviewing which additional Ecuadorian products will be subject to the new tariffs.
Morales added that Colombia, “as a state,” has been compelled to “create conditions of balance in the trade relationship with Ecuador.”
“Today, we are considering another decree that will include other types of products from Ecuador, also with the imposition of 30% tariffs, so that we can seek that trade balance,” she said.
According to the report, the Colombian government is seeking a solution to the dispute through dialogue and was promoting a meeting between Colombian President Gustavo Petro and Ecuador’s Noboa at the CAF forum Wednesday in Panama.
