Page 13 - LatAmOil Week 12 2022

LatAmOil ECUADOR LatAmOil

He declined to say, though, what kind of rat- discussions can be wrapped up quickly enough
ings system Quito might use. The matter “is not to bring the tender process to a close before the
defined yet,” he stressed. end of 2022, he said, Quito should be able to
The energy minister was referring to Ecua- issue environmental permits rapidly, thereby
dor’s upcoming Intracampos 2 round, which allowing upstream production to start before
covers six blocks in the north-eastern part of the end of 2023.
the country, near the border with Colombia. In related news, the energy minister also
These sites contain about 611mn barrels of oil indicated to Argus that Quito was still accepting
in place (OIP), including around 107mn barrels expressions of interest (EoI) from private com-
of recoverable heavy and medium 15-30 degrees panies seeking to convert their service contracts
API crude, he said. They are expected to yield to production-sharing agreements (PSAs). So
around 22,000-28,000 barrels per day (bpd), he far, he said, about 19 firms have shown interest
added. in taking this step.
Bermeo noted that Ecuadorean authorities Ecuador’s Energy Ministry began accepting
had not yet launched the Intracampos 2 tenders requests from investors seeking to switch to
because they were still in consultations with a PSA last month and will continue to receive
local communities about these projects. If these applications until April 11, Argus noted. ™

Six blocks have been included in the Intracampos 2 tenders (Image: Ecuador Ministry of Energy)

Week 12 24•March•2022 www. NEWSBASE .com P13