state company Petroecuador announced this Monday that it will abide by the historic victory achieved by environmental groups in the national referendum held on Sunday to stop the exploitation of Block 43-ITT, an important oil field for the country, located in the Yasuní National Park, considered the heart of the amazon ecuadorian
In a statement, Petroecuador, which has operated Block 43-ITT since exploitation began in 2016, indicated that it will wait for the proclamation of the official results by the National Electoral Council (CNE) to “abide by fully” the popular decision, “absolutely respecting this democratic process”.
To the 93.41% of scrutiny, the “Yeah” to cease the extraction of crude oil from this deposit was clearly imposed with the 58.98% of the votes, against 41.02% of the “No”which sets a precedent worldwide, since it is the first time that the population of a country decides at the polls the future of an oil operation that was already underway.
The state company recalled in its statement that this Monday Block 43-ITT reached a production of 58,000 barrels of oil, which is around eleven% of the total oil production in Ecuador, which is around 480,000 barrels.
This gave the State, according to the Government, benefits worth US$ 1.2 billion, although environmentalists consider that the income is much lower and that it can be compensated with a tax on wealth.
The Executive also estimates that the dismantling of facilities, whose construction cost close to US$2,000 million, will mean an expense of close to US$500 million.
For their part, the indigenous movement and environmental organizations celebrated this Monday in Quito a triumph that they consider historic in the protection of the Amazon.
The national consultation on Block 43-ITT was promoted by the Yasunidos environmental collective, after gathering 757,000 and waging a ten-year legal battle with Ecuador’s electoral bodies.
Block 43-ITT occupies a sector of Yasuní, a protected natural area that covers one million hectares and is home to more than 2,000 species of trees and shrubs, 204 mammals, 610 birds, 121 reptiles, 150 amphibians, and more. of 250 fish.
The Tagaeri, Taromenane and Dugakaeri also live inside, indigenous peoples in voluntary isolation whose intangible zone borders Block 43-ITT.
Source: EFE
Source: Gestion
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