Ministry calls for bids on Petroecuador fields

Ecuador's energy ministry has finally called for bids on a tender for four oil fields belonging to state oil company Petroecuador, a ministry spokesperson told BNamericas. The ministry printed the invitation in an official bulletin on Saturday (November 1) and will make bid rules available this week, the spokesperson said. The fields on offer, Auca, Culebra-Yulebra, Lago Agrio and Shushufindi, have a combined 870 million barrels in reserves and currently produce 90,000 barrels a day. Companies can bid for 20-year concessions on one or more of the four fields. Bid rules for all fields will cost a total US$200,000. Companies have 60 days to submit bids, and the ministry plans to award the contracts according to a points system in early January. The energy ministry has eliminated a bonus that companies normally have to pay based on the field's reserves in an attempt to drum up more interest in the tender and fend off criticism of its terms.