Ecuador's Petroecuador to take control of two disputed blocks from Jan. 1

New Stratus Energy

20/12/2022 18:25

QUITO, Dec 20 (Reuters) - Ecuador's state-run oil
company Petroecuador said on Tuesday it would take control of
two blocks operated by a New Stratus Energy  NSE.V  subsidiary
on Jan. 1, insisting that was their agreement despite protests
by the Canadian contractor.   
    New Stratus Energy has said it will resort to international
arbitration, arguing that Ecuador did not comply with the
original contract by not agreeing to direct negotiations on
proposals to invest in the blocks and increase their output.
    New Stratus Energy must return the blocks in Ecuador's
Orellana province, which produce more than 14,000 barrels of oil
per day (bpd), Petroecuador said in a statement. 
    Petroecuador also plans to roll out technologies to boost
production at both blocks, it said, without specifying output
targets.
    Petroecuador will operate both blocks until an international
tender is launched to find a new private operator for those
areas, Ecuador's Energy Minister Fernando Santos has said.
    Petroecuador has been curtailed in recent months by damage
to electrical systems at its most productive fields, as well as
opposition from indigenous communities to oil exploitation.
    Petroecuador produces about 383,000 bpd, according to
official data. It plans to drill some 420 wells in the Auca
field, one of its most productive, to increase crude output.
 (Reporting by Alexandra Valencia; Writing by Oliver Griffin;
Editing by Richard Chang)
 ((Oliver.Griffin@thomsonreuters.com; +57 304-583-8931;))