Ecuador Resumes Oil Exports From Amazon as Fields Resume Pumping
- Force majeure on all oil contracts ends after 25 days
- Economic blow from production shortfall seen at $533 million
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Ecuador lifted a three-week force majeure on all oil contracts as the country’s two pipelines that transport crude across the Andes resumed operations following a flare-up in riverbed erosion, allowing Amazon territory fields to restart production.
Ecuador’s output has risen to almost 435,000 barrels a day since the Trans-Ecuadorian Oil Pipeline System -- owned by state-run Petroecuador -- and the privately-held Heavy Crude Pipeline went back online ahead of the New Year. Rescheduled exports of Oriente and Napo crude are to resume shortly, the Energy Ministry said in a statement late Wednesday. The government estimates a short-term income loss of $533 million from the incident.