Crisis in Ecuador: country hopes to resume operation of largest state-owned pipeline in 17 days

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Ecuador hopes to resume oil transportation in 17 days on the country’s largest state-owned pipeline, which was damaged by an erosion process in a region of the Amazon.

Ecuador’s Energy Minister Juan Carlos Bermeo said in an interview with a local radio station that one of the measures to solve the problem is “quite advanced” and that the expectation is that operations will resume in 17 days.

“That’s our commitment because every day that goes by is a problem for the country,” he said. As a result of the shutdown of the state-owned pipeline and another one owned by a private company, the two most significant in the country, Ecuador’s oil wells, are being shut down gradually. According to the minister, national production is at 45% of 480,000 barrels per day.

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Oil technicians are meeting with Finance Ministry officials to discuss the shutdown’s economic consequences. About 30% of Ecuador’s fiscal budget comes from crude oil sales abroad, the country’s main export product.

On Monday (13), the government declared a state of emergency in operations to avoid lawsuits for delays in the delivery of crude oil domestically and other derivatives within Ecuador itself.

The accelerated erosion of mountains in the Ecuadorian Amazon began in February last year. Since then, the phenomenon has damaged roads, bridges, and some pipelines crossing the region.

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