الاكوادور: ازمة دولة نفطية

ايلاف من بيروت: ازمة التحركات العمالية واعلان حالة الطوارئ في الاكوادور هي احدى الازمات التي ستؤثر على الاسواق النفطية خاصة مع توقف الشركات النفطية عن ضخ النفط وعملها حاليا على اعادة الضخ الى حالته السابقة، وفي التالي تقرير لموقع quot;BBCquot;:

Ecuador declares oil state crisis

Protests and marches in Napo province were banned and a security zone declared after talks with political leaders in the region broke down.

Ecuador's state oil company managed to resume oil exports late on Tuesday, but a privately-owned pipeline was closed.

Ecuador is the fifth-largest exporter of oil in Latin America.

The country produces some 530,000 barrels each day in ordinary circumstances.

Correspondents say other Amazon provinces are watching the protests, and that unrest may spread.

Government defiant

Ecuador's President Alfredo Palacio declared the state of emergency in Napo and ordered security forces to impose calm on the province, which has been wracked by protests since Sunday.

Defence Minister Oswaldo Jarrin criticised the protesters, accusing them of blackmail and kidnapping, El Universo newspaper reported.

quot;We will not allow anybody to damage state infrastructure,quot; government secretary Jose Modesto Apolo told Reuters news agency.

Reports said at least three people were injured when soldiers fired on protesters occupying a privately-owned oil facility.

The government indicated it would not negotiate with protesters while occupations continued, although there were signs that protest leaders were keen to negotiate, fearful of losing control of angry locals.

Local TV stations showed pictures of wounded people in a hospital who said they had been shot by soldiers, Reuters said.

Protesters had forced the company, OCP, which is part-owned by foreign companies, to suspend pumping some 160,000 barrels per day from its station at Sardinas.

The suspension came hours after the state oil company, Petroecuador, resumed operations pumping about 360,000 barrels per day.

The demonstrators want more of the country's oil wealth to be spent on infrastructure and new jobs. They also want a crackdown on alleged corruption by big oil companies.

Last year, a protest in the same region stopped Ecuador's daily exports of crude oil for two weeks.