2024-05-01 19:28:06
The Government’s main card to increase production is the renegotiation of contracts with private companies that manage oil blocks in Ecuador. According to a Reuters report, Minister Andrea Arrobo assures that the closure of the ITT will cost $1.3 billion. A committee has been formed to develop an exit plan until August 2024.
Ecuador expects its oil production to reach 550,000 barrels per day (bpd) by the end of 2025 as it grants foreign producers contract extensions that had been on hold, the company said on Wednesday. energy minister.
Ecuador’s production has fallen in recent years due to instability, lack of interest from energy companies in the oil and gas areas offered by the Andean country, and frequent contract changes.
The country has been forced to renegotiate oil-for-debt deals.
Current production is around 485,000 bpd, down from a peak of about 560,000 bpd a decade ago.
The government of President Daniel Noboawhich took office late last year, is relaunching bids for areas the previous administration failed to allocate, including the promising Amistad gas field whose production is needed for power generation, under a shared extraction model.
«Gas is a fuel for energy transitionso we believe it is key,” said the minister Andrea Arrobo to Reuters on the sidelines of S&P’s CERAWEeek energy conference in Houston.
Production sharing contracts are what previous administrations in Ecuador have tried and failed to negotiate in recent years.
The Government is also seeking to modernize the model to reinforce community commitments, ensure greater productivity, reduce the carbon footprint and eliminate gas flaring, Arrobo said.
This week, the Noboa Government signed an extension of the oil contract that was on hold with Andes Petroleuma consortium that includes China National Petroleum Corp.. The Government plans to soon sign a similar one with ENAP Sipetrol, a unit of the Chilean ENAPArrobo stated.
In the important group of fields of ITT, the Government formed a committee to complete a plan to abandon the fields in August following a referendum in which the majority of people voted against development of the environmentally sensitive area. The closure could cost up to $1.3 billion, Arrobo said.
By: Diario la HORA