By IANS
Quito : An Ecuadorian official has urged the government to reconsider its decision to allow oil companies to explore in the four petroleum blocks in a national park in the Amazon region, EFE reported Sunday.
The blocks have been assigned to four oil companies: Repsol, Petroriental, Petrobras and Petroecuador. Petroecuador is the country’s state-owned oil company while the rest are foreign firms.
Attorney General Xavier Garaicoa said the oil exploration in the protected area could lead to social and ecological problems.
It was imperative to honour the collective rights of Indians who inhabit the protected area and surrounding buffer zones, he added.
“There is an urgent need for the withdrawal of the petroleum blocks even though they were established by a previous ruling on the protected area,” Garaicoa said.
Petroleum is Ecuador’s chief export. The income from the export accounts for 35 percent of the government’s overall budget. Ecuador is South America’s fifth largest oil producer, pumping around 500,000 barrels of oil every day.