Ecuador’s state oil company, Petroecuador, informed this Sunday that it had asked the Dutch company Trafigura to refrain from importing diesel of Russian origin to the country in compliance with the sanctions imposed by the United States and Europe for the military intervention in Ukraine.
Petroecuador, in a statement, recalled that Trafigura won a public tender last June 16 to supply diesel to Ecuador.
However, on Sunday, August 28, it indicated that in the provisional documentation received on Saturday regarding the unloading of a fourth shipment of the hydrocarbon, it was found that of the 275,146 barrels of diesel oil that was to be supplied to the country, “95% originates from a Russian port and the remaining 5% from Panama”.
ECUADOR’S DECISION WITH THE RUSSIAN DIESEL
After the verification was carried out and without prejudice to what is established in the bidding conditions, Petroecuador requested Trafigura to “refrain from importing fuels of Russian origin” since it could incur the sanctions imposed at the international level.
With “the purpose of preventing consequences that could have repercussions on the Republic of Ecuador and its officials”, added the state-owned oil company.
It recalled that concerning the import restrictions on fuels of Russian origin, the Central Bank of Ecuador had already announced that it would not issue letters of credit due to the restrictions applied.
For this reason, Petroecuador had already included a clause on the sanctions in the bidding conditions for the import of oil derivatives.
In addition, Petroecuador has requested the Central Bank of Ecuador to report on the validity of restrictions on the import of Russian products to include the respective clauses in the terms and conditions of future tenders for the purchase of hydrocarbons.
Ecuador is an oil exporting country, but it has a deficit in the production of derivatives, so it must import gasoline and naphtha to supply the domestic market.
With information fom El Periódico de la Energía