Petroecuador output set to rise next year

Ecuador's state oil company Petroecuador expects to raise production to 221,000 barrels a day (b/d) from July 2004 and to around 230,000b/d from December 2004 thanks to the nine drilling and well reconditioning contracts awarded Thursday. The new contracts will permit the company to drill 41 new wells and perform around 350 maintenance jobs on wells currently under production in the five fields operated by its Petroproduccion production subsidiary, according to a statement issued Friday. Thirty-six wells will be drilled directly by Petroecuador in the Sacha, Libertador, Lago Agrio and Shushufindi fields, and the reconditioning work will be carried out in the Amazon field operated by Petroproduccion, said Petroproduccion VP Bolivar Araujo. Five wells will be drilled by Petroproduccion and local company Dygoil in the joint venture, which started drilling the Atacapi 11-D and Atacapi 12-D wells from September this year, he said Petroproduccion will have four drilling rigs, including one in operative alliances, and 12 reconditioning rigs operating next year, Araujo added. The company has carried out remedial work on its Tetete 12, Pacay 02, Shushuqui 16, Lago Agrio 24, Guanta 10, Auca 29, Sacha Central, Sacha 27 and Sacha Power Oil wells this half, whereby water produced with crude in the Amazon is re-injected to avoid environmental damage, he said.