HOUSTON, Nov. 13, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Wood Group Mustang recently completed the Phase 1 concept study for Ecopetrol's Oledocucto del Pacifico initiative.  The initiative is a new Colombian pipeline to transport crude from the oil-rich Llanos, Caguan & Putumayo basin of eastern Colombia across the Andes Mountains to either Tumaco, in Nariño province or Buenaventura, in Valle del Cauca province, Colombia's two largest Pacific ports. This pipeline is expected to be more than 1,550 miles (2,500km) long with multiple pumping stations and storage terminals on the Pacific coast.

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As Colombian oil & gas production hits historic record levels, heavy crude makes up roughly 60 per cent of the country's output. This will be Colombia's first pipeline to focus on the Pacific region rather than Caribbean ports and will substantially increase Colombia's oil exports to Asian markets, which are experiencing unprecedented growth in crude demand. The highly specialized and integrated team created to conduct the study included engineers from Energeticos, Wood Group Mustang's Bogota-based engineering business, and sister Wood Group company, J P Kenny, to deliver the first phase of this initiative in record time and under-budget.

"Wood Group Mustang is excited to have assisted Ecopetrol with the first phase of this pipeline initiative. Our full-service pipeline engineering and field services will provide excellent support for Ecopetrol in any future phase of the initiative," said Steve Knowles, president of Mustang.

Wood Group Mustang has completed numerous pipeline projects focused on improving integrity, safety and increasing crude production for Ecopetrol and has also provided conceptual engineering services for its downstream petrochemical operations.

Wood Group Mustang, which comprises Mustang, Alliance Engineering, IMV Projects and Energéticos, is a global project management, engineering, procurement, and construction operations business serving the upstream oil & gas, refining & chemicals, pipeline, automation & control, and industrial markets.  It has offices in the United States, Latin America, Canada, United Kingdom, India, Malaysia, West Africa and the Middle East.  For more information, visit www.mustangeng.com.

Energéticos, part of the Wood Group Mustang family of companies, is a Colombian engineering company with more than 35 years of experience on oil & gas, petrochemical and industrial projects. Energéticos, with almost 900 employees, has over 420 engineering specialists in various disciplines providing high-quality engineering services for clients across Latin America.

Wood Group is an international energy services company with $6.bn sales, employing more than 41,000 people worldwide and operating in 50 countries. The Group has three businesses – Engineering, Wood Group PSN and Wood Group GTS - providing a range of engineering, production support, maintenance management and industrial gas turbine overhaul and repair services to the oil & gas and power generation industries worldwide. www.woodgroup.com

Ecopetrol is the principal petroleum company in Colombia, as well as its largest corporation. The company has at least 50 percent ownership in all oil producing fields in Colombia as well as two refineries, ports for fuel exports on both Atlantic and Pacific coasts and a transportation network of more than 8,000 km of pipelines and polyducts throughout Colombia.

SOURCE Wood Group Mustang