Petro Ecuador News

An offshore oil spill near Ecuador's coast reached a popular beach on Wednesday, authorities said, while also showing up in nearby waters as one local official blamed "human error" following a preliminary investigation into the incident. State oil company Petroecuador, which runs the Balao maritime terminal where the spill originated, said in a statement it had mobilized workers to contain it but did not disclose how much crude was unleashed into the ocean. The company added it had launched clean up efforts.

State-run oil company Petroecuador has launched tenders to buy a total volume of 3.84 million barrels of naphtha for delivery in the coming month at Esmeraldas, La Libertad or Punta Arenas ports, according to invitations seen by Reuters on Tuesday. Petroecuador has been this year ramping up purchases of fuels in anticipation of a major overhaul at the 110,000 barrel per day (bpd) Esmeraldas refinery, which this month started a 14-month upgrade. The company is this time requesting 1.2 million barrels of naphtha RON 87 for delivery in five 240,000-barrel cargoes starting on August 25-27; and 11 cargoes, same size, of high octane naphtha RON 93, starting delivery on September 1-3.

Elastec/American Marine say that quality and dependability made all the difference when the state oil company of Ecuador decided recently to purchase its oil spill response equipment. PetroEcuador recently acquired two ELASTEC TDS136G grooved drum skimmers, two ELASTEC SeaSkater weir skimmers, a PACS1000-770, two ELASTEC BoomVane™ units, 60 sections of oil containment boom and ten QuickTanks. The oil spill response equipment will be used at PetroEcuador’s Esmeraldas facility, the country’s largest and most important refinery. Elastec skimmers have been in service there for over six years, and that track record, Elastec’s grooved drum…

State-run company Petroecuador has awarded a tender to buy 18 cargoes of ultra low-sulfur diesel (ULSD) from U.S.-based oil firm Citizens Energy, a trader close to the deal told Reuters on Tuesday. The cargoes, of 240,000 barrels each, will be received in Ecuador starting in June. Ecuador, Latin America's sixth-largest crude producer and the smallest OPEC member, has ramped up tenders to import finished fuels in anticipation of a major overhaul at the 110,000 barrel per day (bpd) Esmeraldas refinery in October. This is the second tender that Petroecuador has awarded to Citizen Energy in recent months, after buying from it four 210,000 barrel cargoes of cutter stock to produce fuel oil that started to be delivered in April.

State-run Petroecuador has launched two tenders to buy a total of 22 cargoes, 240,000 barrels each, of high octane naphtha RON 87 and 93 for delivery starting on May 21-23, according to documents seen by Reuters on Thursday. The big imports by Ecuador's oil company come as it prepares to completely halt its largest refinery, Esmeraldas, from October to November for a major renovation. The company previously launched a similar tender earlier this month to buy 14 cargoes of high octane naphtha RON 95 and it also bought four cargoes of cutter stock from U.S. oil firm Citizen Resources Corp.

For the first time, a Damen Fast Crew Supplier 1605 will be built in Ecuador by Astilleros Navales Ecuatorianos (ASTINAVE) Shipyard. Damen is supplying the complete, prefabricated Shipbuilding Material Package Kit to ASTINAVE. The yard’s technical staff  are responsible for the construction, together with Damen Technical Cooperation (DTC). The DTC concept enables customers to build Damen vessels of their choice locally, according to specific requirements. The Fast Crew Supplier will be delivered to Petro Ecuador in September this year.

Perenco Ecuador Limited has called on the Government of Ecuador to cease efforts to sell oil seized from Blocks 7 and 21 in defiance of orders by international arbitration tribunals, and instead to seek a negotiated solution to the dispute concerning the applicability of Law 42. Perenco Ecuador is the Operator of the two blocks in question. On February 19, 2009, the Republic of Ecuador and its oil company, Empresa Estatal Petroleos del Ecuador ("Petroecuador"), commenced a coercive process to collect from Perenco approximately $327 million they claimed were due under a 2006 Ecuadorian law ("Law 42") by which the government asserts a right to 99% of the oil revenues above an arbitrary "reference price."  In March 2009…