Page 12 - LatAmOil Week 37 2022

LatAmOil ECUADOR LatAmOil

The suspension will affect blocks in the Pastaza and Moronas Santiago provinces (Image: Amazon Watch)
When President Guillermo Lasso took office in gasoline, diesel fuel and fertilisers. The price
2021, he encouraged investment in the extrac- hikes sparked demonstrations, and the gov-
tive sector, saying that new hydrocarbon and ernment responded by instituting a $600mn
mineral projects could help create new jobs and programme that included reductions in motor
boost the country’s economy. fuel prices and the introduction of fertiliser
Nevertheless, his administration came subsidies.
under fire earlier this year due to increases in It also agreed to enter into a 90-day process of
the price of key consumer goods – especially dialogue with indigenous communities in a bid

OCP Ecuador asks government to

extend 20-year operating contract

OCP Ecuador, the privately-owned consortium
that owns and operates Ecuador’s Heavy Crude
Pipeline (OCP) system, has informed the gov-
ernment that it would like to extend its contract
beyond contract beyond the original 20-year
term, which is due to expire on January 12, 2024.
Jorge Vugdelija, the CEO of OCP Ecua-
dor, told Argus Media earlier this week that
the group had submitted a formal request to
continue operating rather than surrender its
licence to Ecuador’s energy ministry without
any compensation. It has also offered to make
additional capacity available to the government
to accommodate the new production streams The pipeline is operating far below its capacity of 450,000 bpd (Image: OCP)
that will appear if the country achieves its aim
of doubling production levels by 2026-2028, the southern part of the country near the border
he said. Moreover, he noted, it has expressed its with Peru.
willingness to extend the OCP system to reach So far, though, Quito has not scheduled a
more isolated sites such as 43-ITT, which lies in time for discussing the matter, he said.

P12 www. NEWSBASE .com Week 37 14•September•2022