Sure beats having ExxtortionMobil back, I bet…
The Ecuadorian state firm, PetroEcuador, will commence operations in Venezuela, where it will exploit crude alongside its Chilean counterpart, ENAP, according to Ecuadorian minister of Mines and Petroleum, Galo Chiriboga.
Chiriboga announced that PetroEcuador and ENAP will join Venezuela’s PDVSA in joint operations in the oilfield of Ayacucho de la Faja del Orinoco, a vast region in eastern Venezuela where the government of Hugo Chavez assumed control of the petroleum operations about a year ago.
The minister said that the joint accord will be signed this Friday in Caracas, on the occasion of an official visit by president Rafael Correa to Venezuela.
The three state firms will create a joint venture to certify the reserves of the Ayacucho oilfield, which, according to information from Caracas, has 39 wells and reserves totalling 14 billion barrels.
Chiriboga pointed out that the operation in Venezuela will permit Ecuador to increase its national reserves “at times when the majority of wells in Ecuador are in decline.”
Translation mine.
You know what that means–stability in oil prices and supplies for Ecuador, great at a time when the new constitution is going to a vote and it’s very likely the Ecuadorian oligarchy will try the same shit their Venezuelan counterparts did in the winter of 2002-3. This should head ’em off at the pass.
Gasp! More petro-solidarity in Latin America! The horror. The HORROR!!!
I guess I know what I’ll be doing for Festive Left Friday. Yup, you guessed it–blogging pics of two of my favorite smart goodlookings signing oil accords!
