Minister of Energy affirms that increasing hydrocarbon production is important for the country

In an interview, the Minister of Energy and Non-Renewable Natural Resources, Juan Carlos Bermeo, said that hydrocarbon development is important to obtain resources for the country; For this reason, they seek to increase production with new wells, such as Ishpingo 5 (opened last week), which already produces more than 3,000 barrels of oil per day.

“The development of the Ishpingo field is very important; means the oil future due to its enormous potential. A few days ago, with the president, we participated in the start of production (…). Hydrocarbon development will allow us to attend to social programs, such as the fight against chronic child malnutrition,” said the minister in radio eventsthis Monday.

Bermeo said that the potential of this field is great and that it means enormous work for ecological access, for the implementation of platforms and the necessary investment.

“It is the first step in the drilling of wells (last week)… We will reach up to 40 wells in that area,” said Bermeo, who added that they expect that, when they are all operational, they will produce 50,000 additional daily barrels of oil in this area alone.

Currently, the country produces 500,000 barrels per day and with the Ishpingo, as well as with other fields, such as Sacha, the goal is to increase extraction as much as possible this year.

Environmental impact, erosion and contracts

When asked about the ruling of the Constitutional Court on the unconstitutionality of several articles of decree 751, related to exploitation in the Yasuní, and the position of environmentalists due to the impact of production in this area, Bermeo commented that the platforms of the Ishpingo are outside the buffer zone and far from the area of ​​uncontacted peoples.

“I don’t know of an oil field that is so careful, so full of regulations, procedures and environmental safeguards as is the case with the ITT (…); not only with measures developed by Petroecuador, but simultaneously with the Ministry of the Environment, which certifies compliance with the requirements,” says Bermeo.

Regarding the regressive erosion in the Coca River, which has already caused the rupture of pipelines, the Secretary of State mentioned that the erosion has stopped, possibly due to a large “competent” rock that has helped to reduce the process.

“The United States Army Corps of Engineers is doing a physical modeling and we are analyzing some alternatives (for the Coca River), among them, the proposed solution with screens of jet grouting (…). I hope to visit the laboratory (of the US Army Corps of Engineers) in July, where we will already have advanced a testing phase”, said Bermeo.

Meanwhile, for the minister, the change from service contracts to shared production, which is what the current government is looking for, because it works better when the price of oil drops.

“There has to be a contract that works according to the variations in prices and the circumstances of the international market, and that contract is called shared production. There are 23 companies that have shown willingness to migrate from current service contracts to shared production (…). We hope this week —if not, the next— to begin the negotiation process to, in a preliminary way, find out where the interests of the company are going and ensure that the interests of the Ecuadorian State are respected,” said Bermeo.

For the 23 companies mentioned, it is expected that with the first contract change the experience will be seen and then the following will be taken into account.

The minister also spoke about the Amistad natural gas field, which is a few decades old and, since it was inaugurated in 2002, would require an investment of between 300 and 500 million dollars to increase its production, which is currently 23-24 billion cubic feet per day, and would be sought in the international private sector.

The minister also indicated that this week he will go to the National Assembly to appear before two commissions to discuss biodiversity and economic development issues. (I)