Orlando Perez
Special for La Jornada
The newspaper La Jornada
Thursday, August 29, 2024, p. 27
Quito. Without the presence of the press, two days in advance and with an informative deployment on social networks, the Ecuadorian government yesterday began the process of closing oil wells in block 43 ITT (Ishpingo, Tiputini and Tambococha), located partially in the Yasuní National Park, in the Amazon. This, as part of the obligation determined in the popular consultation that in 2023 resolved to keep the crude oil underground.
Yasuní, with an area of approximately 10,200 square kilometers, is considered the most biodiverse area on the planet and also the territory of uncontacted indigenous and ancestral peoples of the Ecuadorian Amazon, reasons that led several environmental groups to campaign for the closure of oil operations. In the last decade, during the presidency of Rafael Correa, a global campaign was proposed to raise the money that would stop the production of fossil fuels from that field, but the required amount was not reached.
The YASunidos collective, one of the promoters of the popular consultation, denounced the state inaction since last year to fully comply with what was decided by the Ecuadorian people and said that the report presented to the Constitutional Court It is technically deficient and full of contradictions. This group explains that Of the five measures ordered by the Court and ratified by popular mandate, the government only admits to having complied with one: not signing new contracts.
The task will take up to 5 years
Current energy authorities have said that this is the first step, but the total closure will take between three and five years, since the oil field has a total of 246 wells. To this end, last week, the government of Daniel Noboa presented to the Constitutional Court the schedule for the early closure of operations and abandonment of the ITT block. In that document, it is defined that the closure would conclude in December 2029. In 2024, 10 wells will be closed, and starting in 2025, 48 wells would be shut down and plugged per year.
▲ Oil well in Ecuador.Photo Ministry of Energy of Ecuador
However, other economic sectors consider this closure an attack on the Ecuadorian economy since there is no alternative and, of course, because the national treasury would not receive around 1.5 billion dollars annually, and until 2029 some 6 billion dollars, in a country with serious economic problems and with a drop in general oil production since last year. Experts such as Nelson Baldeón predict a general loss of income between 2.198 billion and 3.581 billion annually.
In addition, the state-owned company Petroecuador, operator of the ITT field, estimates that the technical operations for the early cessation of operations and abandonment of Block 43 ITT would have an approximate cost of 1,345 million. To this should be added the cost of the investment made between 2010 and 2023 for exploration and exploitation, which was 1,983 million.
The other impact considered is for the surrounding communities that have benefited from some compensation programs. Now, the 2 thousand inhabitants of that region would lose an approximate investment of 14.4 million, based on the agreements signed with the Correa government in 2014. With these resources, projects and works in drinking water, electrification, educational infrastructure, health, sanitary batteries, 42 information centers and housing, among others, were financed.