Ecuador – In the latest twist to the saga of Ecuador’s heavy crude oil pipeline, an environmental impact study has come under fire, amid pressure for a change in route for the 518,000 b/d export line.
The new problems come after a decade of political and other obstacles appeared to have finally been put to rest, with the advance of the OCP consortium of Canada’s Alberta Energy, Kerr-McGee, Occidental, ENI, Repsol-YPF, and Argentina’s Perez-Companc and Techint (PIW Apr.9,p11).
Environment Minister Lourdes Luque has come under heavy pressure from local and international activists, who say the pipeline route through the Mindo forest threatens endangered bird habitat and tourism income. Luque responded by saying that OCP should study other routes, while also making 72 observations about the consortium’s environmental impact study. The minister said that construction could still start in June as scheduled.