Paul Pinedo grew up in a clan among the indigenous Wayúu people of Colombia's coast and clearly remembers his first glimpse of an offshore drilling platform. "I was 10 years old and was fishing with my uncle. I asked him what it was, and he said, 'a construction from an alien civilization.' For us, we had never seen a building with electricity in the middle of the sea," Pinedo said.
Today, Pinedo is 27 and a Chevron engineer, and he understands fully how the platform functions. After high school, he was unsure how he would make a living, and talking to a friend helped him gain an interest in engineering. Upon completing his college engineering degree, Pinedo started with Chevron as an intern and was trained to work on the platform that he first saw with his uncle. He said he takes pride in bridging one of Colombia's oldest cultures and the modern world of energy development.
Pinedo's story is a small part of a much larger one of how Chevron partners with the Wayúu, the national oil company, the government and nongovernmental organizations to develop energy in La Guajira, a region between Colombia and Venezuela. Pinedo said most of those in his native Epinayu clan, which includes his 27 uncles and three brothers, are not interested in leaving their community. "They prefer fishing and farming," said Pinedo.
The Wayúu live in La Guajira and own land near our coastal operations in northern Colombia. Our relationship with the Wayúu reflects the way Pinedo bridges his two worlds. We respect local traditions, protect the environment, address community needs and advance economic opportunities. Our strong partnerships help us responsibly expand our operations, resulting in benefits to our business and quality-of-life improvements for the people of La Guajira and the rest of Colombia.
A Long History, a Shared Future
Chevron first stepped foot in Colombia in the late 1920s to explore for oil, but it wasn't until the 1960s that we discovered both oil and natural gas. In partnership with Colombia's national oil company, Ecopetrol, Chevron operates and develops the offshore Chuchupa gas field as well as the onshore Ballena and Riohacha gas fields in La Guajira. We have become Colombia's largest producer of natural gas, supplying approximately 4 million households. La Guajira supplies approximately 65 percent of the country's natural gas.
With natural gas reserves in decline in La Guajira, the national government partnered with Chevron in 2010 to explore for new natural gas resources along 233 miles (375 km) between the La Guajira shoreline and deeper ocean.
"Because of our reputation for environmental responsibility and our longstanding relationship with the Wayúu, we were able to move forward with this important project," said David Bantz, president of Chevron Colombia. "It's critically important to us that our operations embody the respect we feel for the people and their land. Our efforts reflected that commitment."
Before beginning our exploration work in 2010, we spent a year consulting with 172 Wayúu communities, each of which is considered an independent government entity. We invited Wayúu leaders to visit operations and talk about their culture and concerns. Our dialogue reaffirmed the foundation for a constructive relationship.
"The spoken word is important for us, and Chevron approached our communities like a neighbor who knocks on your door," said Victor Manuel Epiayu, who grew up in a Wayúu clan and works for Chevron on community programs. "The Wayúu have a lot of respect for that great attitude."
“Chevron understands that meaningful social projects are not short-term activities.”
— Gina Marcela Puentes, Ecosfera Foundation
Following our initial outreach, we implemented our formal Environmental, Social and Health Impact Assessment (ESHIA) process to evaluate potential impacts on surrounding communities, natural resources, biodiversity, air quality, land use, waste management, noise and public health. The assessment was conducted in partnership with stakeholders to make sure that we captured and addressed community concerns about reactivating natural gas fields and drilling new-development gas wells.
From our discussions, we learned that we needed to change how we accessed our exploration site. To help ensure safety, trucks and other vehicles heading to Chevron facilities were diverted from Wayúu water reserves and traditional pathways to the ocean. Cables used in the process were positioned to avoid culturally sensitive areas. Livestock were temporarily moved from our work locations, and dirt roads were watered down to limit truck dust so that children riding bikes to school were not affected. Our exploration team also worked with local fishermen to reduce the impact of our work on their livelihoods.
We employed more than 360 local people, 60 percent of whom were Wayúu, to assist with the ESHIA process. Then we added them to our exploration team to work on project support activities. The multicultural team shared safety principles and practices with each other in Spanish; the local dialect, Wayúunaiki; and English.
The seismic and drilling gas project was completed in 2011 without injury or incident. According to the national oil company, Ecopetrol, and the Ministry of the Interior and Justice, our consultation with the communities and the social and environmental processes we implemented have the potential to be a model for other, similar projects in Colombia.
Partners in the Community
We continue to work with Wayúu communities to identify their areas of need: infrastructure improvements, educational and health programs, sustainable agriculture and fishing industries, and support for an emerging tourism industry.
"Chevron understands that meaningful social projects are not short-term activities. They know it takes time and effort to achieve sustainable results," said Gina Marcela Puentes of the Ecosfera Foundation, a nonprofit organization that works with the Wayúu on programs to improve their livelihood and preserve their culture. "I have seen other companies that don't even bother to go to the rancherias (Wayúu villages) to talk with the Wayúu authorities. Chevron gives the proper importance to each one of the communities and the people, and that really makes a difference."
To collaborate on finding new ways to improve the quality of life in La Guajira, Chevron became part of a 29-member Regional Commission for Competitiveness composed of unions, nongovernmental organizations and other members of civil society. We partnered with the Ecosfera Foundation to drill and develop eight drinking-water wells and improve sanitation in rural areas of the municipalities of Riohacha and Manaure, benefiting 100,000 indigenous people.
In the Mayapo rural area located in La Guajira, Wayúu communities are vulnerable to food shortages and have limited access to water, sanitation and health centers, in part because of the arid terrain. According to the 2010 Colombia Demographic and Health Survey, the rate of children facing malnutrition in La Guajira is 10 times higher than in the rest of the country. To address these needs, we built six health clinics in 2010 and launched a pilot program in 2011 that created 22 farms. By combining participation of professional farm specialists with the ancestral wisdom of the Wayúu, the project promotes the conservation of native species, the control of pests, the planting of trees for timber and the development of foliage to provide shade.
The experimental farms have improved nutrition and income among participants. As a result, we are working with the local governments of the remaining 150 Wayúu communities to implement similar programs.
"Now we have options. We have food. Without the support of Chevron, we wouldn't have this," said Maria Luisa Ipuana, a Wayúu leader who benefited from the program.
Supporting a Way of Life
For Alberto Hernandez and his fellow Wayúu, fishing is a way of life. "Support by Chevron has been important for us and our families. Our fishing activities and our livelihoods are more developed and sustainable," he said.
The platforms we built off the coast, the first in 1973 and the second in 1996, naturally became reefs where the Wayúu saw an opportunity to fish, but safety concerns prevented fishing around active operations. To help fishermen like Hernandez sustain their fishing and develop commercial markets, we created artificial reefs in deep water away from our operations. Through supplying equipment such as global positioning systems, along with technical training and financial assistance, Chevron helped more than 640 fishermen in rural areas of the Manaure municipality in La Guajira.
We partner with the Wayúu to support other small business enterprises. The Wayúu have a tradition of producing colorful handmade bags, hammocks and blankets. We partnered with Jalianaya—a cooperative of Wayúu women from the Manaure municipality—to provide training and marketing support to more than 600 weavers to increase their income.
"Our women lived off salt extraction and fishing. They fed on boiled fish and ate once a day, until the Chevron-led program empowered us to commercially exploit our crafts and have a better life," said Maria Cristina Gomez, a leader within the Wayúu community.
Increasing Opportunities for Education
Support for education in the communities where we operate is important to us. In La Guajira, we trained teachers, who have helped more than 1,500 students improve their national test scores.
Many Wayúu youth cannot go to school because they live too far away. Chevron helped finance the construction of the Laachon Mayapo Ethno-Educational Center to serve communities in rural areas of the Manaure municipality. Now 1,200 children can receive education and boarding. Also, the center provides girls with greater access to formal education.
"Wayúu children are receiving top-level education both in Spanish and Wayúunaiki," said Danis Cohen, an analyst for Chevron who is Wayúu. "It is an excellent alternative for families to be able to send their children to this school. At Laachon, children are experiencing the best Arijuna (Western) education while keeping their ancestral background and culture."
Updated: May 2012