The 500 kilometres long route of the new OCP pipeline from Lago Agrio in the Amazonas region to Esmeraldas on the Pacific coast is to run mostly along the old route of the SOTE pipeline.
From Lago Agrio the OCP pipeline follows the SOTE route to Papallacta. Papallacta lies 4,000 metres high and is very important for the water supply of Quito. The capital receives about 40 per cent of its overall water supply from this region.
At this point, the OCP will be diverted from the old route, getting around Quito on the controversial Northern route, coming back to the SOTE route after some 160 kilometres near La Uníon.
This bypass runs mostly through forest reservations. The affected protected regions are worldwide unique because of their species richness, providing habitat for some 450 bird species, and many other plant and animal species, some of them endangered.
 
The consequences of the pipeline construction are devastating particularly for the Mindo-Nambillo region, situated to the North of Quito, and the first "Important Bird Area" of South America, one of the most significant bird protected regions worldwide.
Besides the Northern route, a Southern route was an option for the bypass of Quito (map) with a 40 km diversion from the SOTE route. This route would run mostly through agricultural areas.
From La Uníon the SOTE and OCP pipelines run parallel through San Miguel to Esmeraldas. On the overall route the pipeline will run through 94 seismically active lines, seven internationally acknowledged protected areas, four buffer zones and six active volcanoes.
(Source: Information journey of Ute Koczy, MP of Nordrhein-Westfalen; 2002; page 3)