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Profonanpe is expected to compile a list of all Thomas, USAID’s director in Peru.
animal species and habitats that are believed to Thomas also mentioned that the US grant
have been affected by the oil spill. to Peru reinforces the nation’s intention to col-
Beyond the protection of wildlife affected laborate with Peru in an effort to overcome this
by the oil spill, the co-operating bodies are also emergency and prevent crises of this nature in
expected to prepare a range of assessments the future.
aimed at understanding the larger environmen- Anton Willems, the CEO of Profonanpe,
tal impacts that one such oil spill will have as well expressed his satisfaction with the donation,
as prepare a contingency plan to handle future explaining that his organisation’s co-operation
disasters, should they arise. with USAID would advance efforts to improve
“With the support of USAID, highly special- emergency response to oil spills.
ised teams from the US Coast Guard and the The grant will help “generate data to help
National Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric public and private institutions make decisions
Administration (NOAA) provided technical based on evidence and be able to take the appro-
assistance in emergency preparedness, plan- priate actions in similar situations that arise,”
ning, response and recovery activities,” said Jene Willems remarked. ™

ECUADOR
CNPC brings its first development well

on stream at Ecuador’s Ishpingo oilfield

THE government of Ecuador reported last week of Ecuador’s proven oil reserves, and the coun-
that a subsidiary of China National Petroleum try’s government is eager to boost output there.
Corp. (CNPC) had brought Ishpingo, one of the The CNPC contract is expected to contribute
three oilfields within the ITT block near the Yas- to Ecuador’s efforts to ramp oil production up
uni National Park, on stream. to 495,000 bpd this year, a significant increase
In a statement, the government reported on the 2021 figure of 477,300 bpd. It will do so
President Guillermo Lasso had attended a cer- partly through the drilling of another 36 wells at
emony marking the launch of production by the Ishpingo oilfield.
CNPC Chuanqing Drilling Engineering Co. at Ecuador’s government has not yet said
Tower 66 at Platform A, the first active develop- whether it will be able to lift a prohibition on
ment well at Ishpingo. It noted that the well was the extension of the Ishpingo licence. If it suc-
now yielding about 3,600 barrels per day (bpd) ceeds in this endeavour, as it said it hoped to
and would generate revenues of around $60mn do when it announced the award of the drill-
per year for Ecuador if production remained at ing contract to CNPC in February, it will be
this rate. able to install an additional seven onshore
Quito intends to spend these revenues on production platforms. This feat, in turn, could
“improvements to the education, health and bring production levels up by 150,000 bpd. ™
safety system,” it added. These investments, in
turn, will help create jobs and improve the busi-
ness climate, Lasso commented. He also pledged
to use the proceeds of the project to fund the
government’s Chronic Childhood Malnutrition
Programme.
Ecuadorean authorities awarded the drilling
contract to the CNPC subsidiary in late Febru-
ary of this year.
The decision has drawn some criticism, as the
ITT block, which also encompasses the Tiputini
and Tambococha fields, is home to areas notable
for their biodiversity and for their status as home
to some of the world’s last uncontacted indige-
nous communities.
Nevertheless, the block contains 458mn
barrels of heavy crude with a specific gravity of
14.5 degrees API, equivalent to more than 40% Ishpingo is a field within the onshore ITT block (Image: Amazon Watch)

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