Page 12 - LatAmOil Week 43 2021

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The site was previously assigned to Rio Napo, framework of a wide-ranging austerity pro-
a joint venture formed by PetroAmazonas, a gramme introduced under the agreement
state-owned company that was acquired by signed with the International Monetary Fund
Petroecuador at the beginning of this year, and (IMF) in September 2020. Under that agree-
the Venezuelan NOC PdVSA between 2009 ment, Ecuador’s government was granted a
and 2016. It was placed under Petroecuador’s 27-month Extended Fund Facility (EFF) loan
control in 2016, and Ecuador’s Finance Minis- worth $6.5bn. It intends to use the money to
try unveiled plans to sell the field in late January support budget spending and promote the stabi-
2021. lisation of the economy, which has been hit hard
Quito decided to sell Sacha within the by the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. ™

New Stratus eyes Repsol’s stakes

in two Ecuadorean oil blocks

NEW Stratus Energy, an independent Canadian year, by 15 years, he added.
company, is trying to move ahead with plans to The two blocks are currently producing
acquire control of two heavy crude oil-contain- around 15,000 barrels per day (bpd) of heavy
ing blocks in Ecuador. crude oil with a specific gravity of 15 degrees
José Francisco Arata, the CEO of New Stra- API. New Stratus has said it hopes to push yields
tus, said last week that his firm hoped to buy up to 25,000 bpd after drilling 30 new wells in
35% stakes in Blocks 16 and 67, both located in 2022 and 2023.
Ecuador’s eastern Orellana province, from Rep- Ecuador stands to benefit from the proposed
sol (Spain), the current operator of both sites. deal between New Stratus and Repsol, Arata
New Stratus is prepared to invest $200mn in the declared. “By investing $200mn in 2022 and
two blocks over a period of two years, he told 2023, oil reserves would increase to 114mn bar-
Argus Media. rels, only applying primary recovery techniques.
Arata also stated, though, that his company This would represent $1.8bn in additional
wanted to change the terms of the contracts income for Ecuador over the next 15 years, with-
covering Blocks 16 and 67. Repsol has been out any financial risk for the country,” he told
working there under service contracts, but New Argus Media.
Stratus would prefer to operate under produc- He also said his company would only spend
tion-sharing contracts (PSCs), he explained. It is about $15mn on the blocks if Ecuador declined
also looking to extend the term of the contracts, to convert Repsol’s service contracts to PSCs and
which are due to expire in December of next extend their terms by 15 years.

Block 16 is in Ecuador’s Orellana province (Image: Repsol)

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