Page 12 - LatAmOil Week 44 2022

LatAmOil URUGUAY LatAmOil

Alejandro Stipanicic, ANCAP’s president, had 2021 on the grounds that they were no longer
announced the company’s plan to import avi- economical due to their small workforce and
ation fuel from Argentina in order to stave off high salary expenses.
shortages prior to the union’s decision to sus- Richard Charamelo, the director of ANCAP,
pend the strike temporarily. On October 31, complained at the weekend that FANCAP’s
he indicated that the NOC was determined to actions had not been in line with actual working
ensure that labour unrest would not interrupt conditions. “We cannot understand how in a
normal jet fuel supplies. He also said he hoped situation that has been handled for a year, where
the dispute could be resolved soon. the entity loses more than $1mn a year and
Also on October 31, Presidential Secretary where the four workers are going to be relocated,
Álvaro Delgado spoke harshly of FANCAP’s they end up taking a disproportionate measure
decision to call a strike, saying that it would be that affects connectivity at Carrasco Airport and
catastrophic for Uruguay to run out of aviation throughout the country,” he said.
fuel. “We have the responsibility to ensure that “There were people in the eastern terminal
there is supply for airlines and connectivity,” he who earned salaries higher than those of a min-
was quoted as saying by the Montevideo daily El ister,” he added, according to Mercopress. ™
País. “It would be a disaster for Uruguay to leave
the country without a fuel supply.”
As of press time, no word was available on
the outcome of the talks between FANCAP and
MTSS.
According to a report from Mercopress, the
union called the strike to protest over ANCAP’s
decision to shut down ageing jet fuel storage and
distribution facilities at Montevideo’s Carrasco
airport and Punta del Este’s Laguna del Sauce
airport. These facilities had been operating
under labour contracts signed in 2014, but the
NOC announced plans to close them in August ANCAP President Alejandro Stipanicic (Photo: ANCAP)

ECUADOR
Ecuador’s energy minister resigns as

charges of corruption circulate

ECUADOR’S Energy Minister Xavier Vera accused “mafias” of trying to control his coun-
resigned from his position last week after the try’s oil and mining sectors.
public prosecutor’s office conducted a raid on Vera served as energy minister for six
his office, along with two of his residences, in months, prior to which he acted as the deputy
two separate cities on the night of October 27. minister of mining. It was during his tenure
Vera, who has been accused of accepting that Ecuador faced a national strike in June by
bribes in exchange for managerial appointments indigenous protestors that led to the shutdown
in the state-owned energy company PetroEcua- of 1,200 wells in the Amazonian region.
dor, submitted his resignation on the morning Aside from the strike, crude production
of October 28, after the raid. Public Administra- remained stable throughout Vera’s tenure as
tion Secretary Ivan Correa publicly announced energy minister.
that Ecuadorean President Guillermo Lasso had Production stood at 495,900 barrels per
accepted the resignation. day when he took office in April and was mar-
Correa further stated that Vera would stand ginally lower at 494,220 bpd for the October
trial before Ecuadorean courts and as such 1-26 period, according to data published by
would not be able to hold a government posi- the country’s energy regulator ARC. Output is
tion during the legal process. As of press time, anticipated to average 510,000 bpd over the full
the Lasso administration had not named a new year 2022.
energy minister. Two weeks before his resignation, Vera
According to Vera, the corruption allegations launched a tender for six smaller onshore oil
are false. The former energy minister has also blocks in the northeast of the country near the
said that he decided to resign from his role in an Columbian border. So far, 16 firms have already
effort to avoid discrediting the government and shown interest in pursuing this opportunity. ™

P12 www. NEWSBASE .com Week 44 02•November•2022