LatinNews Daily - 21 September 2020

* Ecuador’s energy minister, René Ortiz, has announced that on 21 September the government will launch an international tender for the renovation of the Esmeraldas oil refinery (in the eponymous province), requiring some US$2.4bn in investment. The refinery, operated by state-owned oil company Petroecuador, is the largest in the country, with a production capacity of 110,000 barrels of oil per day (bpd), but has been paralysed by technical issues on a number of occasions in recent years. Ortiz insisted that this tender does not amount to privatisation, as Petroecuador will retain full control of the refinery, and reported that the successful company (to be determined by February 2021) will receive a percentage payment for each barrel refined for the duration of the 25-year agreement. The minister claimed that renovation would save at least US$300m a year by preventing stoppages in production, and further added that Petroecuador’s other oil refineries, La Libertad (with a production capacity to 45,000 bpd) and Shushufindi (25,000 bpd), could soon undergo similar renovation processes.

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