Offshore Technology

Daily Newsletter

11 August 2023

Daily Newsletter

Petroecuador seeks bids for expansion of Amistad offshore gas field

The Ecuadorean state oil company has launched the contracting process for specific integrated services for the Amistad gas field.

Ecuadorean state oil company Petroecuador is seeking bids to attract investment of more than $173m to expand the production capacity of the Amistad offshore gas field.

As part of this plan, the company has launched the contracting process for specific integrated services with financing within Block 6, Campo Amistad, located in the province of El Oro.

The government, which is expected to sign a contract in the first weeks of November 2023, will provide access to the field’s technical data for interested companies until 18 August.

Under the 15-year contract, the selected parties will be responsible for drilling new wells, overhauling existing wells and building new facilities.

EP Petroecuador general manager Ramón Correa Vivanco said that the gas production from Campo Amistad can be increased through private investment while complying with what is established by current legal regulations.

Vivanco said: “The Ecuadorian State will guarantee responsible management of this project, in addition to legal security for investors. It is important to point out that the increase in the production of Campo Amistad will allow us to satisfy part of the demand for natural gas that Ecuador currently has.”

Located in the Gulf of Guayaquil, the Amistad Field currently has a production capacity of 21 million cubic feet per day (mcfd).

As per the estimates, the field has certified proven plus probable reserves of 167.3 trillion cubic feet (tcf) of natural gas and prospective resources of 241tcf.

Last year, Reuters reported that Petroecuador intends to increase the field’s natural gas production to 24mcfd.

ESG 2.0 marks a shift towards stricter environmental rules

ESG is moving into a different era, which we call ESG 2.0. While ESG 1.0 was driven by voluntary corporate action, spurred by pressure from activist consumers and investors, ESG 2.0 is being driven by a new wave of government policies. The EU has taken the regulatory lead, with rules introduced or in the pipeline that will price emissions, regulate the use of the terms ‘ESG’ and ‘sustainability’ in marketing materials, and make ESG reporting mandatory. The US has taken a different approach, favoring less regulation and more financial support in the form of tax breaks for clean industry (renewables plus nuclear and hydrogen). China is planning to expand its emissions trading system to more sectors, decarbonize its heavy industry, and ramp up its use of renewables. The new policy direction is mainly motivated by the ambition to hit net zero emissions targets. But on top of this, governments are now competing for clean industry and trying to challenge China’s leadership on the production of the world’s green technologies such as solar panels and batteries, as well as the production and refinement of materials needed for energy transition such as lithium. These driving forces are leading to policy that will impact every sector, not just heavy industry, and will keep ESG near the top of the regulatory agenda over the longer term.