The state oil company awarded the contract to export 1.4 million barrels of crude oil to the Chinese firm.

With the second spot sale operation of 1,440,000 barrels of Oriente crude oil, which Petroecuador completed this year, it is expected that the Ecuadorian State will receive around US$ 128 million.

The state-owned oil company reported that the export process was awarded on February 5 to the Chinese company Petrochina, which won the contract by offering a differential of -$3.91 per barrel.

36 companies qualified in the supplier registry of the International Trade Management were invited to participate in the tender. Six offers were received from the following companies: Equinor ASA, Glencore LTD., Shell Western Supply and Trading Limited, Trafigura PTE. LTD., Unipec America INC. and Petrochina International CO. LTD. (awarded).

The oil will be delivered in February in four shipments of 360,000 barrels each. The sale is governed by the price of West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil, which is the benchmark for Ecuadorian crude oil, Petroecuador said.

Additionally, the entity indicated that the country has an exportable balance of 78% of crude oil to be placed on the spot market, "with the aim of revaluing Ecuadorian crude oil and obtaining greater benefits for the country," said a statement from the public company.

According to Petroecuador, last year spot sales revenues “doubled, ” from $3.244 billion in 2023 to nearly $6.558 billion in 2024.