Ecopetrol became the first mining-energy company in Latin America to verify its water footprint calculation and report, through a process carried out by the Colombian Institute of Technical Standards and Certification (Icontec) at the Cartagena and Barrancabermeja Refineries, and in the La Cira – Infantas fields, located in Santander, and Castilla, in the department of Meta.
The water footprint allows quantifying the amount of water required to produce a barrel of oil, gas and fuel, with a life cycle approach. This means that the measurement not only includes what is required in the facilities, but also what is needed by the chain of goods and services, analyzing the potential impacts on water.
“For Icontec, it is an honor to deliver the first water footprint certificate for Ecopetrol and the first in Latin America for a mining-energy company. Undoubtedly, it is a very important business commitment in terms of the management and use of water resources and we hope that they will be the spearhead in the sector so that other organizations join this goal.”, said Martha Corredor, Validation and Verification manager at Icontec.
This process complied with the requirements established in the ISO 14046 standard and reflects the advances in efficient water management in Ecopetrol’s operations. In addition, it allowed quantifying the co-benefits related to water resources generated by decarbonization initiatives.
“This delivery is a very important milestone and is one more step in that goal by 2045 of achieving water neutrality in our operations. We have to move forward with concrete actions to achieve this goal, which is extremely challenging and highly relevant for the sustainability of the operation,” said Walter Canova, vice president of Refining and Industrial Processes at Ecopetrol.
Water neutrality means achieving a balance between the water required to operate and the actions that reduce the direct water footprint, and that make it possible to replace at least 100% of its consumption in operations, through compensation projects.
This certification reiterates the company’s commitment to preserving the environmental and social value of water, and validates the process to replicate it systematically in other operations and projects in the production and refining segments of the Ecopetrol Group.