By Reuters Staff
2 Min Read
QUITO, June 25 (Reuters) - Ecuador’s state oil company Petroecuador said on Friday it had reached an agreement with an indigenous community to end a protest that had been blocking access to one of its largest oil fields in the Amazon region.
The indigenous Kichwa El Eden community began blocking access to the Block 12 Eden-Yuturi facilities on May 10 to demand a new contract over compensation to nearby residents after a previous deal inspired. Petroecuador on June 4 declared force majeure at the field, which normally produces around 28,500 barrels per day (bpd) of crude.
Petroecuador said in a statement that as part of the deal to lift the roadblock, it would within 60 days sign a five-year agreement with the community to provide social benefits for some 1,000 people living in the oil field’s so-called area of influence.
2 Min Read
WASHINGTON, June 24 (Reuters) - The infrastructure deal struck by a group of bipartisan senators and President Joe Biden on Thursday is partially funded by a $6 billion sale from the U.S. emergency oil reserve, according to a document circulated by Republican lawmakers.
A sale of that size equals a drawdown of about 82 million barrels, based on Thursday’s price of $73 a barrel for West Texas Intermediate crude. That represents a sale of about 13% of the reserve’s current holdings of nearly 624 million barrels of oil, though if prices rise, the volume of oil would shrink.
The deal was a step forward for the $1.2 trillion bipartisan Senate deal, but the battle is not over. Democrats are also working on a companion bill that will include more money to address climate fixes, but could only be passed on a party line vote in a process called reconciliation.
Royal Dutch Shell is reviewing its holdings in the largest U.S. oil field for a potential sale, people familiar with the matter told Reuters, marking a key moment in its shift away from fossil fuels as it faces growing pressure to slash carbon emissions.
Sudan fully lifted subsidies on gasoline and diesel on Tuesday, according to a statement from the finance ministry that said previous prices would be canceled and new prices set that it said were in line with import costs.
President Joe Biden's administration, under pressure from labor unions and U.S. senators including from his home state of Delaware, is considering ways to provide relief to U.S. oil refiners from biofuel blending mandates, three sources familiar with the matter said.
Malaysia is expected to spend 8 billion ringgit ($1.95 billion) on fuel and cooking oil subsidies this year, more than double the 3.78 billion ringgit originally allocated, the finance ministry said on Saturday.
Norwegian oil services firm Aker Solutions said on Thursday one of its managers was being questioned by Malaysian authorities and three sources familiar with the case said they expected charges to be brought on Friday.
A fire at an oil refinery owned by Indonesia's Pertamina at Cilacap, Central Java, was still ablaze on Saturday, the CEO of the state energy firm said on Saturday, though she added it wouldn't impact the plant's operations.