By Mercedes Alvaro
QUITO, Ecuador--Ecuador expects $2.12 billion in private
investments over the next five years for 17 mature oil fields
operated by state-run oil company Petroamazonas, which is seeking
to boost production and increase oil reserves.
On Wednesday, Petroamazonas signed contracts with five consortia
that will carry out secondary and enhanced oil-recovery projects
with the aim to increase reserves by about 171 million barrels at
these fields, which currently produce about 107,000 barrels of
crude oil a day.
Halliburton Co., Schlumberger Ltd., China's Sinopec, Argentina's
YPF SA and Ecuador's Sertecpet are leading the respective
consortia.
In the first phase of the projects, companies will drill and
repair damaged wells, among other works. In a second stage,
companies will apply enhanced oil recovery and secondary recovery
technology.
The government of President Rafael Correa expects to improve the
recovery factor at those fields by three or four percentage points.
The current recovery factor is about 32%.
Companies that signed contracts should provide financing for the
works, and they will receive a fee for each incremental barrel of
production. Petroamazonas will continue as operator of the
fields.
Currently, Ecuador produces about 550,000 barrels of crude oil a
day.
Write to Mercedes Alvaro at mercedes.alvaro@wsj.com