The world environmentalist is satisfied. Soon they will achieve the first assisted suicide of a nation for the purpose of greening the planet. The Constitutional Court (KS) orders that the people be asked whether they agree to the dismantling and abolition of the ITT oil infrastructure, the only oil field under development. The question slyly suggests that this investment has yet to be realized. The indigenous communities of Yasunà are protesting because they were not consulted about the proposed closure of this activity that benefits them.
Decision and controls for public consultation
There is no other candidate country for assisted suicide. Scandinavian countries have a deep environmental awareness, which does not prevent Norway from opening an investment of 18 billion dollars to increase gas production and provide energy security to Europe.
The European oil companies that announced in 2022 that they would primarily invest in unconventional energy sources have given up, considering that the oil business is more attractive. Shell has replaced the CEO who announced last year that the company was getting out of oil. His successor says the goal stands, but has been postponed indefinitely.
Stopping crude oil exploitation at the Yasunà ITT would create losses of $16,470 million over 20 years, according to Petroecuador
Joe Biden came to the post of US president advocating for environmental goals, but due to rising oil prices, he asked oil companies to invest more: environmentalists failed to stop oil production. The US is the world’s leading producer with 12 million barrels per day.
Argentina is preparing to increase production at its Vaca Muerta field. In the USA and Argentina, investments are made in unconventional oil, from shale. Would the Constitutional Court allow the exploitation of oil of this nature in Ecuador?
What is left out the most
If voters vote yes, Ecuador will lose 55,000 barrels of production today and at least 90,000 in the near future, Petroecuador will lay off workers, stop buying from suppliers. The economy will shrink.
The state will have to pay the loans that financed the infrastructure that will stop producing and invest in its dismantling. The contractors would sue him for breach of contract.
Investments by oil and mining companies will cool down before their predecessors…
Oil sales that generated $1.2 billion in 2022 will be lost. Ecuador will cease to be a net oil exporter. Non-oil imports will have to decrease by a similar amount because there will be fewer dollars.
Investments by oil and mining companies will cool down given the fact that the CC, which is on the side of anti-mining and oil activists, could order another referendum to shut down yet another ongoing oil or mining project.
The state, which lives underfunded, loses 1.2 billion dollars annually, which is distributed between the budget, the financing of fuel imports sold with subsidies, local authorities and Petroecuador.
The fiscal problem is the easiest to overcome. If citizens sacrifice their oil production to save the world, they also accept the removal of fuel subsidies, to reduce overconsumption and smuggling, and to improve the environment and public finances.
The full development of ITT while maintaining high environmental standards, giving the country a breather, was achieved by voting a resounding NO. (OR)
Source: Eluniverso
Mario Twitchell is an accomplished author and journalist, known for his insightful and thought-provoking writing on a wide range of topics including general and opinion. He currently works as a writer at 247 news agency, where he has established himself as a respected voice in the industry.
