Feb. 26 (Bloomberg) -- A 450,000 barrel-a-day oil pipeline in Ecuador will probably resume full operations in about five days after a rupture caused 14,000 barrels of crude to spill in the Amazon rainforest.

About 100 people are working to repair the damage caused by a “natural phenomenon” in the Napo region in northeast Ecuador, part of the Amazon Basin, Oleoducto de Crudos Pesados Ecuador SA said on its Web site.

The pipeline, which started operating in 2003 after a $1.5 billion investment, usually transports about 160,000 barrels a day, less than half its capacity, according to OCP Ecuador, as the company is known.

The pipeline links to the Pacific port of Esmeraldas and is the biggest transporter for heavy crude in the country, OCP Ecuador said. PetroEcuador, the state-owned oil company, operates the parallel SOTE pipeline, which carries light crude oil to the Pacific Coast.

OCP Ecuador said it will still be able to meet its shipment targets for this month.

OCP’s shareholders include Brazil’s Petroleo Brasileiro SA, Spain’s Repsol YPF SA, Chinese group Andes Petroleum and Perenco Corp.

To contact the reporter on this story: Matthew Craze in Santiago at mcraze@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: February 26, 2009 11:37 EST