Ecuador sets out terms for new Amazon acreage

By GARETH CHETWYND Rio de Janeiro

 06 December 2012 23:59 GMT

Ecuador has presented service fee terms for licensing 21 blocks in the south-east Amazon region, amid fears that indigenous protests and demands over consultation may put future operations at risk.

The round is targeting prospects at Cretaceous and pre-Cretaceous horizons.

Three blocks in border regions will be offered to state-controlled partners, with priority for regional companies Petroperu and Colombia’s Ecopetrol.

Production contracts would run for 20 years, with additional periods for obligatory environmental remediation.

Bids are expected by the end of May 2013, with results expected by the end of July and signing of four-year exploration contracts by the end of the year.

Ecuador’s Ministry for Non-Renewable Energies estimates that the areas on offer hold between 300 million and 1.6 billion barrels of recoverable hydrocarbon…

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