Ecuador’s state-owned oil and gas firm, Petroecuador has struck a gas exploration deal with Chilean and Venezuelan oil companies. Hence, the OPEC member’s continuous effort to carve a niche among the oil and gas producing nations has finally come to fruition. A joint venture company, Petronado was formed last month in a meeting attended by Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and his Ecuadorian counterpart Rafael Correa to explore natural gas reserves Ayacucho Oil Field.
Petroecuador is expected to hold majority shares in the venture with Petroleos de Venezuela SA and Chile’s National Petroleum Company, Enap. According to Ecuador Mines and Oil Minister Galo Chiriboga the new venture will support the government’s endeavor to create jobs in country’s oil and gas industry. He further added the gas exploration and production through the joint partnership with these South American nations would help to diversify itself from excessive focus on oil.
Last week Ecuador signed a MOU on energy co-operation with Iran which includes a project to build a refinery and petrochemical unit. Through this deal, the country is expected to solve the shortage of refineries which forced them to process oil elsewhere to produce fuel. Venezuela is also a signatory to the deal. The three OPEC nations hold a third of world’s oil reserves. Nonetheless, the several deals between leftist governments and Iran are perceived as plans of creating a bloc against the US and its allies among OPEC nations which Ecuador sides Iran.
Ecuador is believed to have around 334 million cubic meters of gas, and it is chiefly identified in the region of southern Pacific coast in the Gulf of Guayaquil. The country largely depends on diesel for energy generation and it produces just 535,000 barrels of oil a day, a low yield as compared to other OPEC nations.
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