To further compound the problem constant rains have made any repairs impossible due to the chance of further landslides and storage tanks are reaching their capacity. Tanks at the Nuevo Loje fields are now 85% full and at the other end of the route, at Puerto Bolao on the Pacific coast, storage facilities already filled to their complete 1.6 million barrel capacity.

The pipeline transports crude oil from oilfields in the country's Amazon jungle region to a port on the Pacific coast. The SOTE is currently Ecuador's only crude export pipeline.

When the rains subside Petroecuador expects that it will take between five and eight days for the pipeline to resume normal operations.

The 500km long conduit was damaged by an avalanche from the Reventador volcano, 100 km west of Quito, and technicians said it may be a week of more before the rains let up and the danger of new avalanches subsides, allowing repairs to be made.

Ecuador produces 380,000 barrels per day of crude and exports 60% of its output to obtain the revenues that finance around 40% of the national budget. Of that total, Petroecuador takes 210,000 barrels for domestic refining purposes and for export.