LatinNews Daily - 22 December 2021

* Ecuador’s President Guillermo Lasso has said that the country has lost almost US$533m due to the suspension of pumping operations on two oil pipelines due to erosion. Part of the state-owned trans-Ecuadorean pipeline system (Sote) and a pipeline belonging to the private crude oil transport company Oleoducto de Crudos Pesados (OCP) have been out of operation since 10 December, when serious river erosion in El Chaco canton, Napo province, led to warnings of landslides and sinkholes that could cause an oil spill. Work is underway to secure the pipeline, but state-owned oil company Petroecuador has temporarily halted oil production in the Amazon until pumping can resume. Lasso said that “there is an impact of nearly US$533m because we’ve stopped exporting oil and have to import fuel to supply internal demand”. He added that he is hopeful that accelerated oil production in 2022, as part of his government’s plan to double production to 1m barrels per day, will balance the current losses.

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