Ecuador: Candidate Luisa Gonzalez Vows to Revoke Sacha Oil Field Concession
Presidential candidate Luisa Gonzalez. Photo: EFE
March 5, 2025 Hour: 2:47 pm
‘We’ll not hand over Ecuadorians’ resources! This contract was made outside the law,’ the Citizen Revolution leader said.
Luisa Gonzalez, the presidential candidate for the Citizen Revolution party, announced that if she becomes Ecuador’s next president, she will revoke the concession contract for the Sacha Field, which was awarded by President Daniel Noboa to Amodaimi-Oil Company S.L.
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“We are going to overturn this concession. We will revoke it because we will not hand over Ecuadorians’ resources! This contract was made outside the law,” she said, warning about the possibility that the Sacha contract could be in violation of the Ecuadorian Constitution if it includes international arbitration clauses.
“Our Constitutions prohibits international arbitration. In addition, Ecuadorians said ‘NO’ to international arbitration in the 2024 popular referendum,” recalled Gonzalez, a leftist politician who remains the favorite to defeat Noboa in the second round of elections scheduled for April 13.
“We will not allow our resources to continue being handed over to foreign companies that only seek their own benefit while the Ecuadorian people continue to suffer,” she declared, warning that her administration will review all contracts signed during the Noboa administration.
“We cannot allow such important decisions to be made behind the people’s backs. Natural resources belong to all Ecuadorians, and any decision about them must be consulted with, and approved by, the citizens,” Gonzalez stated regarding a concession contract that was awarded just weeks before the current administration’s term ends.
In fact, the statements from the Citizen Revolution candidate come amid growing allegations about ties between Noboa, his relatives, and Amodaimi-Oil Company S.L.
Using data from the Superintendency of Companies, investigative journalism revealed that Amodaimi-Oil shares the same contact number as El Ordeño, a livestock company linked to Isabel Noboa, the Ecuadorian president’s aunt.
This revelation has sparked strong criticism regarding possible conflicts of interest and privileges granted to groups close to the Noboa administration.
In response to public outrage, Energy Minister Ines Manzano made statements attempting to deny that the contract constitutes an award or concession to transnational companies under harmful conditions for the Ecuadorian state. However, the evidence suggests otherwise.
The National Association of Workers in the Energy and Petroleum Companies (ANTEP) warned that if the concession contract is implemented, the capital investment for the Sacha oil field will come from public debt and the operation’s own cash flow. But that is not all.
According to negotiation records, 87.5 out of every 100 barrels extracted from Sacha will go to Sinopetrol, the Chinese-Canadian consortium that controls Amodaimi-Oil. The Ecuadorian state will receive only 12.5 out of every 100 barrels, thus leaving the majority of oil profits in the hands of a private company.
The investigative report also revealed that the law firm representing Sinopetrol is the same firm that represents President Noboa and Foreign Affairs Minister Gabriela Sommerfeld.
Economist Juan Pablo Jaramillo further exposed that Petrolia, another company within the consortium that acquired Amodaimi, has a subscribed capital of just US$2,000. These entities operate under the trade name New Stratus Energy, a company that will finance the US$1.5 billion contract premium using the operation’s cash flow and an oil pre-sale agreement.
Attorney Washington Andrade filed an urgent action with the Attorney General’s Office to investigate the concession process for alleged crimes of embezzlement, private-sector corruption, and treason against the nation.
teleSUR/ JF Source: EFE