Reporting by Alexandra Valencia, Reuters

QUITO
EnergiesNet.com 04 11 2023

Ecuador’s state oil company, Petroecuador, said on Monday that daily production at two of its blocks in the Amazon is down more than 50% after “vandalism” at the facilities, which have been subject to community protests.

The neighboring blocks in the Orellana province, along with three others, were subject to a force majeure declaration by the company last month as local communities demand economic support from Petroecuador

Last week, Petroecuador said that a group tried to take over the facilities running both blocks, which together produce an average of 13,500 barrels per day (bpd).

Petroecuador “is currently registering a drastic drop of more than 50% in the average daily production at these blocks,” the state company said in a statement.

The drop is due to “the acts of vandalism caused by outside groups, which affected the facilities,” the firm added.

Production at the blocks stood at just 6,337 bpd on Sunday, according to the country’s oil regulator.

Force majeure measures for two other blocks were lifted at the end of March, and are expected to be lifted for one more after a deal to finance housing project studies is inked.

However, Petroecuador has not been able to diffuse the protests at blocks 16 and 67, which were handed over to the state firm after a dispute with Canada’s New Stratus Energy.

Petroecuador has said that it provides space for dialogue with local communities where it operates.

The March force majeure declarations mean the country must lower its production target for the year to a maximum of 490,000 bpd, down from 520,000 bpd.

Output on Sunday was just over 471,000 bpd, according to official data.

Reporting by Alexandra Valencia; Writing by Kylie Madry, editing by Deepa Babington

reuters.com 04 10 2023