The The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) invited Ecuador to become part of this organization again. from which he left in January 2020. On May 12, in an official letter addressed to the Minister of Energy and Mining, Fernando Santos Alvite, Secretary General of OPEC, Haitham Al Ghais, made the call, after a little more than three years after his departure.

The Government understands the invitation as a friendly gesture of the Organization, and at the same time considers that the proposal must be carefully analyzed. “The problem will always be the possibility of reducing production. This is not very acceptable for the country.” Minister Fernando Santos Alvite said the subject after consulting with this newspaper.

The Ecuadorian government, under President Lenín Moreno and during the administration of Minister Carlos Pérez, decided to leave the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), and indicated at the time that it based its decision on “the problems and challenges that the country must take on, in relation to fiscal sustainability This measure is in line with the Government’s plan to reduce public spending and reduce new revenues. It is about the fact that as part of the state’s obligations to belong to this organization there was a reduction in production if necessary. However, at that time Ecuador was asking for an increase.

Now, a letter dated May 2023 encourages the President of the Republic, Guillermo Lasso, and Minister Fernando Santos to analyze the reincorporation proposal, indicating that “Ecuador is a major producer and exporter of oil, and the Secretariat believes that your esteemed country would greatly benefit information and knowledge that OPEC shares with its member countries.

In addition, the international organization believes that the possible integration of Ecuador into OPEC will represent a valuable opportunity to create and strengthen diplomatic ties with oil-producing countries, with the aim of creating a strategy that enables the consolidation of future investments.

The formal invitation was fulfilled within the framework of the meeting held on May 11 Haitham Al Ghais; and Fernando Santos; in which questions about Ecuador’s historical participation in the organization and strengthening of bilateral ties with the aim of promoting the hydrocarbon industry were addressed.

According to the Ministry’s announcement, the OPEC proposal aims to harmonize the oil policies of its members, in order to guarantee fair and stable prices for those oil-producing countries, efficient, economical and regular supply of crude oil to consumers, and a fair return for investors in the hydrocarbon industry.

About the topic, Darío Dávalos, an energy analyst, believes that the bloc’s presence always helps; However, he said that OPEC had then taken decisions to cut production, and if Ecuador were to return, it should have a guarantee that it would not have to resort to such an approach. The expert said that Ecuador must be clear in its positions, since OPEC members hold friendly dialogues with Russia, so it is not clear what position Ecuador would take. For Dávalos, Ecuador as a producer cannot afford to cut production, it has to think about the demand for crude oil.