The oil future of Ecuador, at stake with an unprecedented national consultation on the Yasuní

Ecuador faces a crucial moment for the future of its Petroleumone of the great pillars of his economy, that is at stake with the unprecedented national referendum to prohibit the exploitation of Block 43-ITT, Deposit located under the Amazon jungle of the National Park Yasunione of the world epicenters of biodiversity.

Of the around 480,000 barrels of oil that Ecuador produces daily, some 55,000 (11%) come from Block 43-ITT (Ishpingo, Tambococha, Tiputini), which makes it the fourth most productive field in Ecuador and with projections to eventually be the first.

This gives a net benefit to the State of US$ 1,200 million a year, according to the state oil company Petroecuador, which operates the ITT and which estimates reserves and resources of 282 million barrels in the subsoil, whose net benefit would be, according to the same company, of US$ 13,800 million in the next 20 years.

The popular consultation will be held on August 20, coinciding with the extraordinary general elections, after a ten-year legal battle waged by the environmentalist collective Yasunidos to carry out the vote, after gathering more than 757,000 signatures.

The question would set a historical precedent, although it concerns only Block 43-ITT and not Blocks 16 and 31, which are also within Yasuní, but are not the subject of this consultation.

For Yasunidos, the exploitation of the ITT cannot continue due to the risk of disturbing this privileged ecosystem, made up of more than 2,000 species of trees, 204 mammals, 610 birds, 121 reptiles, 150 amphibians and more than 250 fish.

Oil and nature compatible, says company

“It is the best managed field from an environmental point of view”asserted the general manager of Petroecuador, Ramón Correa, during a tour of the facilities, where they have invested more than US$ 1.8 billion in their goal of making the environment and oil compatible.

“You cannot operate without perfect harmony with the environment and communities”reiterates before highlighting that, unlike other fields, here there is no “lighters” (burners) of gas, which is used to generate electricity.

With the premise of occupying as little space as possible, the facilities and open paths in the jungle occupy a total of 80 hectares, less than 0.01% of the surface of the National Park.

This was achieved with cluster drilling, where the wells start from the same place in different directions, without the need to cover a large area, as explained by the ITT Asset Manager, Walter Paredes, from the Tambococha B platform.

“Here we have 21 wells on 3.2 hectares”, emphasizes the engineer, something that with previous technology would have required 31.5 hectares. In this way, 225 wells work on eleven platforms.

Added to this are environmental safeguards, such as narrow paths that avoid important trees and that have steps to facilitate the movement of animals from one place to another.

No spills to nature

Since ITT production began, Petroecuador has acknowledged twenty-six incidents, very small leaks that never reached the natural environment.

“I have never seen here ‘regaderos’ (spills)”, Panenky Ohe Huabe, president of the indigenous community of Kawymeno, the only Waorani ethnic group of the seven that inhabit the ITT and who wants the exploitation to continue, sees in it a source of employment and basic services.

His position differs from the leaders of the Waorani nationality, who call for unity to stop the extraction of crude oil.

The promoters of the consultation also fear effects on the Tagaeri and Taromenane, two indigenous peoples in voluntary isolation whose intangible zone borders the ITT, but from Petroecuador -which has a protocol in case of encountering them- they point out that up to now they have not There have been no sightings or contacts of these groups, which live deep in the jungle.

A very expensive decision

If the “Yes” vote wins, Petroecuador must leave within a year, something that Paredes sees “practically impossible”. “It will take three to five years.”indicates the engineer, since the regulations require putting three cement plugs in each well, removing everything and reforesting.

The damage to the State calculated by the company will be US$ 16,470 million, between the profitability of the oil that remains to be extracted, the dismantling of the fields and various compensations, which Yasunidos believes can be compensated if the tax is raised by 1.5%. to the income of the richest.

Concern grows among experts when they warn that there is no other field ready to replace ITT production, while they point out that the Heavy Crude Oil Pipeline (OCP) would be left without its main supplier and at risk of not reaching the minimum amount to function daily.

“We know that the energy transition It has to happen, but we cannot do it in one day and close a field in the midst of the country’s situation, because the State’s resources also come from here to invest in the transition,” Correa concludes.

Source: EFE