North American Blue Energy Partners (NABEP) has installed 1,149 kilometers of new flexible pipe on the eastern shore of Lake Maracaibo since beginning operations there in 2024, the company said. The pipe replaces aging steel lines that NABEP describes as a main source of leaks that have damaged the lake for decades.

Corrosion-resistant design

According to NABEP, the flexible pipe's protective layers resist the corrosion associated with old steel. The pipe is laid in continuous sections from barges, which the company says results in fewer joints where leaks typically start.

NABEP also said it repaired critical sections of 12-inch oil and gas trunk lines this year by installing nearly four kilometers of new steel pipe.

A legacy of pollution

Lake Maracaibo's pollution problem dates to the early 1900s, according to the source. Decades of intensive production, inadequate maintenance and underinvestment left most of the lake's estimated 25,000 kilometers of underwater pipeline corroding. In 2021, a Simón Bolívar University scientist told NASA's Earth Observatory that most of the pipelines were 50 years old. NASA has also cited estimates of 40,000 to 50,000 oil leaks and spills across Venezuela between 2010 and 2016 alone.

Replacing entire well lines

NABEP inherited part of that network in 2024 and made replacing it a priority. Rather than patching old lines section by section, the company is replacing each well's lines entirely.

The program has run new flow and gas lines to 435 wells in the Bachaquero and Ceuta fields. Of those, 301 are already producing through the new pipe, with about 52,000 barrels of oil a day now flowing from the wellhead through new lines. The remaining wells have their new lines in place and will produce through them when they come back online.

CEO statement

"Decades of neglect have left oil on Lake Maracaibo's shores and fishing families struggling to make a living from its waters,“ said NABEP CEO Alejandro Betancourt. ”Cleanups alone can't keep up while old pipes keep leaking, so we're reinvesting in a lasting fix: replacing the corroded lines we inherited, one by one. We are working steadily to replace the graveyard of rusted equipment and oil slicks we see today with modern infrastructure built to the highest safety and environmental standards. We're committed to being good stewards of this lake and good neighbors to the communities that depend on it."

Work continues

NABEP said it has 176 kilometers of new pipe in storage, 791 more in transit, and plans to lay about 3,400 additional kilometers, including new lines connecting 144 wells to the Bachaquero 3 compressor plant. The program is part of broader efforts to clean up and restore Lake Maracaibo, according to the company.