Ecuador's Minister of Non Renewable Natural Resources Wilson Pastor said that contracts signed last week with consortia led by Schlumberger Ltd. (SLB) and Argentina's Tecpetrol could be renegotiated in five years.

Ecuador's state-run oil company Petroecuador on Jan. 31 signed 15-year contracts with two consortia, one for the Shushufindi-Aguarico mature oil field and one for the field at Libertador-Atacapi, respectively, with an aim of increasing output and discovering new reserves.

The groups, according to the President Rafael Correa's administration, will invest about $1.7 billion over the next five years to increase production at both mature fields.

Pastor was quoted Wednesday in El Comercio newspaper as saying that if enhanced-recovery techniques are successful after five years, "the contracts will be renegotiated."

Currently Shushufindi-Aguarico produces 45,153 barrels of crude oil per day, while Libertador-Atacapi produces 16,200 barrels per day.

According to the contract for Shushufindi-Aguarico, the state will pay the consortium $30.62 per barrel of incremental oil output. The contract for the Libertador field says the consortium will receive a payment of $39.53 per barrel of incremental output. The payments are only for additional production, not for current production.

On Wednesday Pastor also said that he expects to sign contracts for marginal oil fields in the Amazonas region by the end of this month or in March.

According to Pastor, the Armadillo, Ocano-Pena Blanca, Singue and Eno-Ron fields will produce about 15,000 barrels of oil per day total with an investment of about $300 million, but he didn't provide more details.

-By Mercedes Alvaro, Dow Jones Newswires; 5939-9728-653; mercedes.alvaro@dowjones.com

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