Environment approves complementary study for the Inchi F platform in Orellana

The Ministry of Environment and Energy approved the complementary environmental impact study that enables the construction of the Inchi F platform, a flow line, and the drilling of ten wells in block 47 PBHI, in the province of Orellana. The decision is contained in Resolution No. MAE-SCA-2026-0012-RM, signed on October 1, 2026, and published in Official Registry No. 397 on Monday, October 26, 2026, which amends the current environmental license of the operator ENAP SIPETROL S.A.

The resolution amends Resolution No. 232 of August 8, 2016, which granted the environmental license for the Ex-post Environmental Impact Study and Management Plan for the development and production phase of the area known as Intracampos in the PBHI block. The process is based on articles 445 and 446 of the Regulations to the Organic Environmental Code, which provide for complementary studies to expand the scope of an authorization without a new regularization process, and on article 32 of the Environmental Regulation for Hydrocarbon Operations (Ministerial Agreement 100-A).

The file was initiated with official letter SG-1004-2023 dated November 30, 2023, submitted by the operator’s general proxy, Juan Carlos Cuervo Monroy. After two rounds of observations and a 30-day extension granted in August 2024, the Directorate of Environmental Regularization issued a favorable technical pronouncement on December 4, 2024.

Activities incorporated into the license

The resolution incorporates the following activities into the environmental authorization:

• Construction of the Inchi F platform.
• Construction of the flow line from Inchi F to the flow line of the Inchi C platform.
• Installation of an electrical line.
• Operation: well production.
• Drilling of 10 wells.

These components become an integral part of Resolution No. 232 and must be strictly complied with; failure to do so empowers the ministry to suspend or revoke the authorization in accordance with articles 187 and 188 of the Organic Environmental Code.

Location and intersection verification

The project is located in the province of Orellana, cantons La Joya de los Sachas and Francisco de Orellana, parishes San Sebastián del Coca and Puerto Francisco de Orellana. Intersection certificate MAATE-SUIA-RA-DRA-2024-00122, dated August 21, 2024, indicates that the project does not intersect with the National System of Protected Areas, the National Forest Heritage, or intangible zones.

The Forestry Directorate approved the forest inventory and the economic valuation of the study via memorandum MAATE-DB-2024-3421-M, dated December 4, 2024, which set the value of the affected ecosystem goods and services at 854.30 dollars.

Environmental consultation and the request of the Ombudsman’s Office

The citizen participation process was executed across two axes, with Diana Carolina León Cadena and Pablo David Andrade López as initial facilitators and Josselyn Dayanna Guerron Ocaña in charge of the decision-making axis. On August 8, 2026, the Undersecretariat of Environmental Quality approved the systematization of the process and concluded that the consulted party is in agreement with the granting of the environmental permit.

The Ombudsman’s Office had requested, through provision 03-DPE-DPORLL-2026-001550-CS dated March 16, 2026, information on whether the Kichwa indigenous communities of San Pablo and Domingo Playa had access to the information and participated in the preparation of the study. The Ministry responded via official letter MAE-SCA-2026-0953-OF that the block “was awarded and has been in the exploitation phase since 2002,” therefore Article 57 numeral 7 of the Constitution does not apply, although the environmental consultation provided for in Article 398 was carried out.

Payments and guarantees required from the operator

The authorization was conditioned upon three disbursements:

• Payment for control and monitoring: 480 dollars (80 dollars per daily inspection, 2 technicians and 3 days of visit).
• Valuation of ecosystem goods and services: 854.30 dollars.
• Performance bond for the Environmental Management Plan: 557,806.88 dollars, reference GB26B00632.

The operator submitted the receipts and the policy on August 24, 2026, via official letter SG-0777-2026 signed by Raúl Urrestra. The resolution was signed by Gary Mauricio Báez Freire, acting Undersecretary of Environmental Quality, and certified on October 7, 2026, by the general secretary Luis Carlos Artieda Carrera; it is effective from the date of its signing.

The approval clears the final administrative requirement for ENAP SIPETROL S.A. to expand its infrastructure in block 47 PBHI, one of the oil expansion fronts in the Ecuadorian Amazon, and finalizes an environmental consultation process that was observed by the Ombudsman’s Office due to its impact on the Kichwa communities of the area.

Source: Official Registry, No. 397, Monday, October 26, 2026, Resolutions section – Ministry of Environment and Energy, p. 18 (official reference: MAE-SCA-2026-0012-RM).