Petroecuador Lifts Force Majeure on Oilfield Blocks 61 and 43
Petroecuador has lifted its force majeure declaration on the Yulebra oil field in Block 61 and at the Ishpingo, Tiputini, and Tambococha Block 43, known as the ITT. The return to normal operations in Ecuador came a few days after operations were disrupted by disputes with local communities.
According to the company's statement, the end of the force majeure on Wednesday came after a round of negotiations with local communities. However, blocks 12 and 16, where force majeure was declared on March 19 and 21, remained offline due to disputes with civilians.
The return to normal operations at the ITT, one of the largest oil complexes in the country, will help offset the oil production losses registered by the force majeures. The ITT fields, located in the Amazon River near the Yasuni reserve, produced 70,000 barrels of oil per day (BBL/d) in 2018 and are some of the nation's biggest oil fields.
As a result of unrest this month, Ecuador saw its oil production decline, starting March 18, to 453,000 BBL/d from an average of between 470,000 BB/d and 490,000 BBL/d. In the following days, a steeper production loss was experienced, with Ecuador's output down to 425,000 BBL/d.
In the last couple of days, oil flows have been slowly recovering, as blocks 61 and 43 return to normal operations, and by March 29, production stood at 461,000 BBL/d. The output from private companies has remained more or less stable in the last few days near the 90,000-BBL/d mark.
Petroecuador represents about 80% of the nation's oil production.
Last week, Ecuadorian officials said that the production losses experienced this year, due to social unrest, would impact Ecuador's ability to reach its goal of 520,000 BBL/d of production for this year.
The government of Guillermo Lasso, which is currently facing a potential impeachment, had projected oil output to reach 1 million BBL/d by incentivizing private investments in the energy industry. Almost two years after Lasso became president, Ecuador has yet to see oil production gains align with the government's goals.
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