It was expected that the delegation of Block 60 would be decided by January. Unions are opposed, but experts say that Petroecuador cannot continue operating.

The Ecuadorian government's intention to delegate the operation of the Sacha field to third parties has not yet materialized.

The issue is "on hold" at the Ministry of Economy and Finance, according to a source close to the process, because the corresponding fiscal report has not been completed, which is decisive in deciding whether or not to delegate block 60 to the consortium formed by Amodaimi Oil - a subsidiary of the Chinese state oil company Sinopec - and Petrolia Ecuador SA - a subsidiary of the Canadian company New Stratus de Energy.

By January 22, several reports were already ready and the Ministry of Finance was working on risk analyses, said the Vice Minister of Hydrocarbons, Guillermo Ferreira, responsible for the delegation process.

He also estimated that the Hydrocarbon Bidding Committee (COLH) - which he chairs - should meet that month to decide whether or not to accept the proposal of the consortium that committed to give the State an advance payment of US$ 1.5 billion.

The consortium's offer is to operate the block for 20 years, inject investments of more than US$ 1.7 billion and increase daily production from 75,000 barrels to 100,000 barrels.

Sacha, which began operations more than 50 years ago, reached 72,727 barrels per day on February 6, equivalent to 19.35% of Petroecuador's total daily production, which that day totaled 375,836 barrels.

Due to its important contribution, the field is considered “the jewel in the crown” of the national industry.

In 2024, Block 60 production was forecast at 28.1 million barrels, 7.1% more than the 26.3 million barrels of crude oil extracted in 2023.

In turn, the results for 2023 were 8.1% higher than in 2022, according to figures from Petroecuador.

The door for the concession of the field was opened by the Government of Daniel Noboa with the issuance of Ministerial Agreement 40, signed in November 2024 by the Minister of Energy and Mines in charge, Inés Manzano.

The "exceptionality" of delegating the block to "state companies or subsidiaries of these" from countries of the international community, for the additional exploration and exploitation of hydrocarbons, was declared there.

The agreement ordered Petroecuador to return Sacha to the Ministry of Energy and Mines. In addition, several economic and legal reports are cited that justify the delegation.

One of them states that the state oil company “has limitations in its budget that do not allow the allocation of greater resources for exploration investments in these blocks” and that to increase crude oil production “it is necessary to inject new capital to allow for the investments required for this purpose.”

UNIONS OPPOSE THE GRANT

On February 6, the Association of Oil and Energy Workers (Antep) filed a non-compliance action with the Constitutional Court (CC), with a precautionary measure that seeks to stop the process being carried out by the Government.

The defendant claims that there are irregularities in the legal grounds of the agreement signed by Minister Inés Manzano, as it is based on reforms to the Hydrocarbons Law that were declared unconstitutional by the Court.

On the other hand, the organization maintains that the delivery of the block would generate losses for the State of more than US$ 1,000 million in the next 20 years. And it questions that the delegation to the consortium would be "directly chosen" and that the companies would not be state-owned, but private.

Both Antep and the Ecuadorian Petroleum Defense Front (FDPE) oppose the Sacha concession, since they consider that third parties will keep the most productive asset of the State and that the participation contract, in which the consortium would keep 20% of the oil revenue, is a disadvantage for the country. They claim that the field should remain in the domain of Petroecuador and that the Government should allocate more investment so that the state company increases production.

"PETROECUADOR IS NOT IN A POSITION TO MAINTAIN SACHA, THE STATE DOES NOT HAVE THE RESOURCES"

The idea that the Noboa government should inject more financing into Petroecuador, so that it can maintain the operation of Sacha and increase the level of crude oil exploitation, is an idea without solid support because the treasury does not have the necessary resources and, in addition, the poor reputation of the public company weighs on it, which for years has been tarnished by corruption scandals, institutional instability - due to the continuous rotation in the general management - and whose financial balances are unknown.

This is how energy experts Nelson Baldeón and Jorge Luis Hidalgo sum it up, pointing out that the way out to boost weak national oil production and increase it - not just that of Sacha - is to follow the examples of other countries and go for participation contracts, in which the State retains the majority of the income and private operators assume the risk of the investments. Both analysts point out that the issue with Sacha should have already been resolved.

“What money is there to invest in Petroecuador and how do I invest in a company that has no balance sheets? If there is no corporate governance? The only thing that allows efficiency at this time are participation contracts. I am not the one saying this, the world is saying it. Malaysia, Guyana, Argentina, Mexico, Venezuela, Saudi Arabia have participation contracts. If production increases, more is earned. That is the benefit,” Baldeón points out.

Regarding the legal action brought by the unions, he believes that it is “unfounded” and “impossible”, since the ministerial agreement does not contradict the Constitution. It would have to be proven that the concession process violates constitutional principles, he adds.

Hidalgo says that Petroecuador is an “unsustainable company” that, although it has “very good technicians,” its heads have failed and many people “have taken advantage” of the entity.

On the other hand, he says that Ecuador has large reserves of oil - and other natural resources - that are not being exploited and the situation is getting worse due to the resistance to private companies becoming more involved in the industry.

"It hurts them more that a private company takes over and makes money than that we continue to lose (production); that is the logic of many people," he complains.