Canadian President Guillermo Lasso said on January 19 that Canadian oil company Frontera Energy has found oil in Ecuador for the first time in six years.
Frontera’s well at the Perico field in Oriente Basin in the northeastern Amazon forest produces the equivalent of 925 barrels per day, Lasso said on Twitter.
The Jandaya-1 well has been drilled to a depth of 10,975 feet and is expected to begin long-term testing next month, Calgary-based Frontera said in a statement. According to Frontera, a second well (Tui-1) will be drilled in February in the Perico oil and gas field, a joint venture with GeoPark.
Lasso, a former banker who started his four-year term in May 2021, aims to attract more private investment to Ecuador with the aim of doubling the country’s crude oil production to 1 million bbl/d.
Petroecuador CEO Italo Cedeno said at a press conference that Esmeraldas, La Libertad and Shushufindi refineries also resumed operating at full capacity as of January 18, with the SOTE channel reopening after a three-week shutdown due to flooding.
According to the Ministry of Natural Resources, Ecuador was producing 491,700 barrels of crude per day by January 17. Petroecuador accounts for about 80% of the country’s production.
Cedeno said that Petroecuador, which has renegotiated contracts with PetroChina, Unipec and PTT, aims to allocate 10% of its 2022 Oriente and Napo crude oil exports to the spot market to provide better prices. US consultant firm Arthur D. Little is also working on a study aimed at listing Petroecuador on the stock exchange, he added.
