Quito, Ecuador – A coalition of environmental groups urged Ecuador’s Energy Ministry on Thursday to reject an application for an environmental permit to build a long-awaited heavy crude oil pipeline.
It is the first time the five environmental groups, led by Fundacion Natura, have officially opposed the project, along with several international organizations, which issued a letter of protest this week.
According to the groups, the environmental impact study presented by the multinational consortium OCP Ecuador SA “has technical and methodological holes.”
“As it is right now, the plan shouldn’t be approved. We demand that a more in-depth study is done on possible detours of the route,” Fundacion Natura’s executive director, Ricardo Moreno, told reporters. The consortium plans to build the pipeline through Mindo ecological reserve, 16 miles (25 km) northwest of Quito. The area is considered an important habitat for birds in South America.
A contract to build a heavy crude pipeline was signed in February by OCP, a consortium comprising Alberta Energy Co. Ltd, Italy’s ENI , Agip Petroleum , Kerr-McGee Corp, Occidental Petroleum Corp., Repsol-YPF , Perez Companc and Argentine construction firm Techint.
The project requires investment of $1.1 billion and is expected to nearly double the country’s crude output. Several international groups, including Greenpeace International and Amazon Watch, wrote a letter of opposition this week to banks that finance or advise the project, including J.P. Morgan Chase, Citigroup and Deutsche Bank AG . OCP said the proposed route is more secure and reduces the risk of natural disasters and eliminates a series of physical and geological problems.
The Energy Ministry is expected to decide on the environmental permit by June 10. Ecuador currently has only one pipeline that can transport an average of about 400,000 barrels of crude daily.
