During 28-29 May, ARPEL had the opportunity to co-organize with its Member Company, Petroamazonas EP, the workshop “Alternative technologies – Future of Petroleum” in Quito, Ecuador.

The event had over 50 participants and represented the first opportunity to share the ARPEL White Paper "Systemic approach to improve the recovery factor of oil resources" to industry and government stakeholders of Ecuador.

Besides the strong participation of PAM professionals, the following ARPEL Member Companies, with operations in Ecuador, participated: Repsol, Tecpetrol, ENAP/Sipetrol, BHGE and Schlumberger. Other industry players in Ecuador also participated of the event which focused on case studies in Ecuadorian depleting oil fields as well as on the advances of enhanced oil recovery (EOR) technologies.

Ecuador reserves are falling down and the seismic developed these last 10 years have yielded poor results regarding reserves findings. In this context, the main strategies to enhance the country’s production include massive secondary recovery (a lot of waterflooding is already underway with good results) and expansion to EOR.

Also, governmental authorities highlighted the fact that the participation of the private sector is necessary for the development of the hydrocarbons sector in Ecuador.

The main issue of expanding the use of EOR projects in Ecuador relies on the delays of the environmental permitting, something that would have to be addressed by the government with a multi-institutional approach. Also, there is an opportunity for Ecuador to provide a regulatory framework that fosters the implementation of EOR projects in the country and ensure the energy security required.

Miguel Moyano, ARPEL Upstream Director indicated that: “The presentation as well as the concepts and recommendations described in the ARPEL White Paper were well received by the participants. It also demonstrated the timeliness of the publication of this document by the ARPEL E&P Committee, particularly, although not exclusively, in Ecuador.”