Ecuador's Oriente crude exports suspended, Napo flowing amid force majeure
By
At least eight people have died and road blockades have led to food and medicine shortages. The crisis has halved oil output, the country's main source of revenue, to some 234,500 barrels per day while forcing reductions in fuel prices, though protest leaders have called the price cuts insufficient.
On Wednesday, the government of President
The energy minister said on Sunday that output could be completely halted in a matter of days over acts of vandalism.
Petroecuador has not yet rescheduled the suspended Oriente
cargoes, it said in a release. The firm issued a wide force
majeure declaration over oil exploration, production, transport
and exports on
"Once the force majeure is overcome, the company will timely notify companies about operations to coordinate the (cargo) rescheduling," it said.
Exports of Napo heavy crude have continued flowing, according to trading and company sources, as the privately held OCP pipeline, which transports that grade from oilfields, is working with "relative normality." But the state-owned SOTE pipeline remains halted since Monday due to low flows.
Customers including BP and Marathon Petroleum (MPC)
, which had resorted to Ecuadorian oil to try and replace
cargoes of Russian crude lost due to sanctions, are now in talks
with other Latin American and Middle Eastern producers,
including
U.S. refiners have increased purchases of Ecuadorian crude
since
BP, Petrobras and Petroperu did not reply to requests for comment. Marathon declined to comment.
Lasso on Tuesday survived an attempt by opposition lawmakers to oust him after he insisted his government would not negotiate further with an indigenous leader to end more than two weeks of paralyzing protests.
(Reporting by