President Guillermo Lasso said this in an audience with the Kichwa and Huaorani communities of the ITT field who are worried about the consequences of its eventual closure. The president, who has three months left in his mandate, said that he will not do anything and that oil production will continue for the time being. A confession that relies on the narrative of the Minister of Energy Mines, Fernando Santos, who observed its legitimacy by pointing out that in the province of Orellana – and also in Sucumbíos – the territory where the extraction of resources is carried out, as stipulated in Article 57 paragraph 7 of the Constitution, no.

Stop production immediately, delay the process or let the National Assembly analyze the problem, different views on the Yasuní consultation

The outgoing government, which promised to increase oil production to 1 million barrels, does not want to bear the burden of subtracting another 58,000 barrels a day from falling production.

Petroecuador was finalizing the calculation of how much it would cost to dismantle a dozen platforms that make up the ITT field, and to his surprise, it turned out that the amount would be three times higher than the predicted 450 million dollars. To give an idea, iron and rubble representing the volume of Atahualpa’s three Olympic stadiums would have to be removed from the jungle.

Kichwa Community President Apologizes to Guillermo Lasso for Leaking Audio from Carondelet Block 43-ITT Meeting

It is necessary to engage a specialized company that will create a contractual project assignment in order to subsequently announce an international tender. In addition, the Ministry of Energy must create regulations for the construction of oil fields, which do not exist. For their part, the ministries of environmental protection and economy and finance must do their part.

The corresponding cost would have to be included in the state’s general budget, but since the political transition extends the current budget for 2023 to the following year, the item will not appear until at least 2025. And what will be done in the meantime? Will the ITT field switch be turned off as requested by the environmental gurus?

(…) the iron and rubble representing Atahualpa’s three stadiums would have to be removed from the jungle…

An analysis of budget execution between January and August appeared on the digital portal, noting that for every nine dollars paid out on the bureaucracy’s payroll, barely one was allocated to investment spending; only $677 million. Which means that only HRK 1,000 million could be estimated for this concept by December.

The future of Ecuador after consultation

And despite the fact that the state treasury has serious and undeniable economic problems, the immediate closure of the profitable property, which in 2022 generated a net income of 1.2 billion dollars, is required.

By the time these delays pass, the new National Assembly will have to oversee the call for a public consultation full of vices by the Constitutional Court, the current co-governor.

In addition to the untimely and confusing question for voters, he ignored the resolution by which the legislator approved the exploitation of the ITT field in 2013, in accordance with Article 407 of the Constitution, which reserves the power to call for consultations, if it deems necessary. There is no thought of doing this at the request of an NGO like YASunidos.

Furthermore, the law that authorized the construction of oil facilities cannot be retroactive and must be applied in the future, as is the case with the consultation in Chocó Andino. (OR)