Petroecuador expects more crude with fewer wells

State-owned oil company Petroecuador will drill fewer wells this year than first planned but still expects to produce 5,000 b/d more crude than initially forecast for 2024, according to the work plan of interim chief executive Diego Guerrero.

Petroecuador plans to drill 90 wells this year, including 27 drilled through May and 63 planned for the rest of the year — well below the 156 wells initially forecast under former chief executive Marcela Reinoso, who resigned in May.

But the company expects crude output to average 390,000 b/d by December, according to Guerrero's plans, higher than the 370,000 b/d estimate made before he took office, and up from 369,000 b/d reported for June.

Ecuador is expected to lose about 50,000 b/d come 1 September when it shuts down the Ishpingo, Tambococha and Tiputini (ITT) fields in block 43 after Ecuadorians voted to end oil activities in the environmentally sensitive region. Guerrero's plan did not break out how much output it expects from ITT this year. Petroecuador did not respond to a request for comment.

Reinoso told the national assembly in February that without ITT, Petroecuador's production would fall to 358,500 b/d in September before rising again to 373,300 b/d in December, leading to a 2024 average of about 385,000 b/d.

But petroleum engineers' association vice-president Fernando Reyes said that both the new and old goals for December production are too optimistic without ITT. After a 50,000 b/d drop with the end of ITT production, Reyes believes under a best-case scenario new drilling could add 20,000–30,000 b/d of production, bringing December output to 360,000-370,000 b/d.

But Guerrero's higher projections are feasible if Petroecuador keeps pumping crude from ITT, Reyes said. Ecuadorian president Daniel Noboa in January proposed a one-year delay on plans to end drilling in the ITT, but the plan has not advanced.

Guerrero's work plan also includes new projects to recover associated gas from the Sacha Norte 2, Sacha Central, Drago and Shushufindi fields, and also workovers in four wells in the offshore Amistad natural gas field.

Petroecuador produced 81pc of Ecuador's crude output of 484,499 b/d in May.

By Alberto Araujo