Petroecuador restarts pumping at SOTE pipeline after 23 days

Ecuador's state oil firm Petroecuador said on Friday it had restarted operations at its SOTE crude pipeline in the Amazonian province of Napo, after damage caused by heavy rainfall forced it to stop pumping from July 2.

Petroecuador said in a statement it had finished building a 988-meter (3,240-foot) bypass that aims to secure the pipeline's operations and achieve terrain stability in the medium term.

The oil firm said it expected crude exports would normalize progressively.