Petroecuador
Petroecuador (Empresa Estatal Petróleos del Ecuador now called EPPETROECUADOR, Empresa Pública Petroecuador) [Petroleums of Ecuador State Enterprise] is the national oil company of Ecuador. It is a state-owned enterprise, founded on September 26, 1989. It is the successor to CEPE (Corporación Estatal Petrolera Ecuatoriana) which was formed in 1972.
It operates three divisions:
- Petroproducción for exploration and extraction
- Petroindustrial for refinery operations
- Petrocomercial for transportation and marketing of refined products to the internal market in Ecuador.
Petroecuador is charged with managing the operation of the Trans-Ecuadorian oil pipeline network, Sistema de Oleoducto Transecuatoriano or SOTE, built in 1972 for Texaco-Gulf.
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[edit] Industrial Accident
On February 26, 1998 there was an explosion and fire at the Petroecuador pipeline in Esmeraldas, a port city in northwest Ecuador [1] [2]
[edit] Controversy over impact on environment in Amazon
Petroecuador has been the subject of controversy over the impact of exploration and pipeline operations on the environment and Huaorani and Cofan indigenous peoples within the Amazon basin in Ecuador's Oriente (eastern) region. In 1964 oil drilling operations began to take place in previously roadless rainforest, carried out by a joint venture between Petroecuador and Texaco.
Advocacy groups such as Amazon Watch and ChevronToxico have attempted to document the oil spills, ecological damage and human impacts of these operations. Prof. Judith Kimerling[3] of CUNY School of Law in 1991 published a book Amazon Crude (ISBN 0960935851) which details many of these problems. online slideshow (Java required)
In response to these reports, a class-action lawsuit was initiated against ChevronTexaco in the U.S. over their involvement in these operations. A U.S. court ruled the case should be heard in Ecuador. A new action was begun in Ecuador in 2003. That case is currently before the Ecuadorean courts. In March 2007 Chevron issued a statement saying it would not settle the suit. Texaco's statement on the suit link
Petroecuador has been the sole owner and operator of the oil facilities since 1990. Sadly, Petroecuador has continued to damage the environment severely. In five years, Petroecuador had over 1000 oil leaks. Petroecuador has also failed to clean up sites that were its responsibility under the joint venture. [4]. Comparable national companies like Petrobras, Petro-Canada, Statoil and Qatar Petroleum have much higher environmental standards.
[edit] Refineries
Petroecuador owns three petroleum refineries in Ecuador. Capacity is expected to increase due to the increasing demand in Ecuador and the U.S. (Ecuador is the second largest exporter of oil products of South America to the U.S.).
Refineries in Ecuador:
Esmeraldas Refinery (Petroecuador), 110,000 bpd (start-up 1978)
La Libertad Refinery (Petroecuador), 45,000 bbl/d (7,200 m³/d)
Shushufindi Refinery (Petroecuador), 20,000 bbl/d (3,200 m³/d)
[edit] See also
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