Ecuador declares emergency in 3 states

[Judi Lynn]

Ecuador declares emergency in 3 states
Petroecuador oil output dips 34 percent as strike hits

Tuesday, March 7, 2006; Posted: 10:44 p.m. EST (03:44 GMT)

QUITO, Ecuador (Reuters) -- Ecuadorean President Alfredo Palacio declared a state of emergency in three provinces on Tuesday after a strike by contract workers cut production at state oil firm Petroecuador, an official said.

"The state of emergency was declared in the provinces of Napo, Orellana and Sucumbios," said a presidential spokesman. The state of emergency limits constitutional rights.

A company official said earlier Tuesday that production by Petroecuador was down 34 percent to 132,000 barrels per day after around 4,000 contract workers called a strike to demand full-time positions, a company official said.

Ecuador, South America's fifth largest oil producer, has output of around 530,000 barrels per day and Petroecuador produces an average of 200,000 barrels of crude.
(snip/...)

http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/americas/03/07/ecuador.reut/index.html

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You may find the following article worth noting, on Ecuador's oil expansion. It doesn't say how many refineries Ecuador has, but I've seen information it has 3, or 5, or more, and one genius has claimed it has NO refineries. (Colombia has 4, Nicaragua, Costa Rico, Guatemala have refineries. This is a whole new subject to some of us DU'ers.)

Amazon Oil Expansion and the OCP Pipeline
Oil Corporations Ransack Indigenous Territories
http://www.amazonwatch.org/amazon/EC/ocp/index.php?page_number=4

[murray hill farm]

1. Very interesting and informative...

Read the whole article. Thanks, Judi Lynn

[Judi Lynn]

2. Mexicopat, found some info. on Mexico's oil. It's short, but interesting.

According to the article, there are at least 7 refineries in Mexico owned by Pemex. Pemex also has taken the time to do some extensive union busting on the workers.

Looks like there's a lot of oil there, still:

~snip~
In 1993 Mexico had the world's eighth largest crude petroleum reserves, amounting to some 5 percent of the world's total. Its proven crude oil reserves amounted to some 51 billion barrels in 1993, and it had potential reserves of some 250 billion barrels. The Gulf of Mexico contains approximately 56 percent of Mexico's proven reserves; 24 percent are located in the Chicontepec region, 15 percent are located in Tabasco and Chiapas, and the remainder are elsewhere. Mexico's reserves are sufficient to guarantee current production levels for fifty years.
(snip)

http://www.country-studies.com/mexico/oil.html

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~snip~
In 1995 Mexico was the world's sixth-largest producer of crude oil. In the Western Hemisphere, only the United States produced more oil than Mexico. Directly behind Mexico was Venezuela, which in 1992 produced an amount equal to 89 percent of Mexico's crude oil output.
(snip)

In August 1993, it became known that the government was considering proposals to allow private companies to buy, sell, and distribute imported gasoline, natural gas, and petrochemicals, and to invest in new pipelines. Although the government reiterated in 1992 its longstanding pledge not to denationalize the oil industry, some observers viewed the reorganization of Pemex as a move to improve the company's efficiency and profitability as a prelude to privatization. Denationalization would require amending the constitution of 1917, which mandated state ownership and exploitation of hydrocarbons.

During 1995 Pemex proceeded with its plans to divest its secondary petrochemicals plants and allow private investment in the storage, transportation, and distribution of natural gas. In late 1995, Pemex began to divest itself of sixty-one petrochemical plants.
(snip)

http://countrystudies.us/mexico/78.htm

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US: No New Refineries in 29 Years

by Jad Mouawad, New York Times
May 9th, 2005

~snip~
Over the last quarter-century, the number of refineries in the United States dropped to 149, less than half the number in 1981. Because companies have upgraded and expanded their aging operations, refining capacity during that time period shrank only 10 percent from its peak of 18.6 million barrels a day. At the same time, gasoline consumption has risen by 45 percent.
(snip)

http://www.corpwatch.org/article.php?id=12227

[murray hill farm]

4. Good stuff, judi lynn!

thank u so much!

[cantstandbush]

3. Why can't companies take the time and money to be fair with

indigenous people and still get what they want? They would rather pay bribes to government officials instead of taking that same money and compensating fairly the indigenous people in ways comensurate with their culture.

[Mika]

5. Why? Stockholding CEOs rule. Its the New World Order.

(You didn't get the memo, I see.) :(

---

:hi:

[alarcojon]

6. Of course, these provinces are in the jungle (Oriente)

so these contract workers are also working and living in the middle of nowhere under shit conditions. They deserve full time positions and to be paid on time.

[0007]

7. Thanks for the map.

They do deserve full time positions must be paid on time.

[maxrandb]

8. When does Bush invade Ecuador?

[DoYouEverWonder]

9. Ecuador emergency over oil strike

8 March 2006

A state of emergency has been declared in three of Ecuador's oil-producing regions after workers began a strike over pay and working conditions.

The eastern provinces of Napo, Orellana and Sucumbios have been placed under military control to prevent further unrest, a government official said.

It is the second time in recent weeks that the government in the capital, Quito, has had to take such measures.

Ecuador's oil production accounts for nearly half of its annual budget.

The government-run company Petroecuador said the strike had already damaged production in the oil-rich provinces.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4788074.stm

[alarcojon]

10. Posted earlier, different source

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x2152155

[struggle4progress]

11. Ecuador Oil Workers Block Road to Field

QUITO, Ecuador (AP) - About 100 subcontracted oil workers blocked a road leading to one of Ecuador's main oil fields Thursday as a state of emergency declared by President Alfredo Palacio to end the strike stretched into a second day. <snip>

Soldiers guarded the Sachas oil field, in Sucumbios province, 195 kilometers (120 miles) east of the capital, Quito, which was pumping below normal capacity. But the protesters maintained a roadblock on the far side of a bridge outside the facility.

Palacio decreed the state of emergency late Tuesday night, suspending constitutional rights in Sucumbios, Orellana, and Napo provinces after a strike by about 4,000 workers from companies contracted by state-run Petroecuador.

The subcontracted oil workers walked off the job Monday, and on Tuesday several hundred seized the country's five largest oil camps to press their demands, including payment of three months back wages and direct hiring by Petroecuador. Ecuador's military had retook control of the oil fields the next day. <snip>

http://news.moneycentral.msn.com/provider/providerarticle.asp?feed=AP&Date=20060309&ID=5523185