Competition authority authorizes OrionOil to purchase 30% of Block 17

The Superintendency of Economic Competition (SCE) authorized the economic concentration operation whereby ORIONOIL ER S.A. acquires 30% of the rights and obligations that Overseas Petroleum and Investment Corporation (OPIC) holds in the Block 17 Petroleum Consortium. The decision is contained in Resolution No. SCE-CRPI-22-2026, case file SCE-CRPI-22-2026, signed on August 28, 2026, and published in the Official Registry Supplement No. 388 on Tuesday, October 13, 2026, page 28.

The act was issued by the First Instance Resolution Commission (CRPI) of the SCE, based in Quito, at 12:30 p.m. on August 28, 2026, and was disseminated in a non-confidential version. The authorization is based on articles 21 and 22 of the Organic Law for the Regulation and Control of Market Power (LORCPM), articles 20.1 and 21 of its Regulations, and article 31 of the SCE Administrative Procedural Management Instructions. The case was processed in Phase 1, following report SCE-IGT-INCCE-2026-21 dated August 21, 2026, submitted by the National Superintendency for the Control of Economic Concentrations via memorandum SCE-INCCE-DNCCE-2026-099.

The operation and the control of the block

The transaction consists of the substitution of OPIC by ORIONOIL ER S.A. in the ownership of the rights and obligations derived from the Service Provision Contract for the Exploration and Exploitation of Crude Oil in Block 17, in the Ecuadorian Amazon Region. To implement it, the parties signed a Purchase and Sale Agreement on June 25, 2026.

The Block 17 Petroleum Consortium was created from the Consortium Agreement of October 28, 1986, and the Joint Operating Agreement of May 26, 1987, signed by BRITOIL (BETA) LTD., ELF AQUITAINE EQUATEUR, and PETROBRÁS INTERNACIONAL S.A., following the contract signed on May 4, 1987, with the Ecuadorian State Petroleum Corporation. Today it is composed of OPIC (30%) and PETROORIENTAL S.A. (70%).

The CRPI concluded that, although OPIC was a minority shareholder, its vote was indispensable: ordinary operational matters require the support of at least two members totaling 70% of the shares, and strategic matters require unanimity. Therefore, ORIONOIL ER S.A. will exercise joint control with PETROORIENTAL over the consortium, which constitutes a takeover of control according to literal c) of article 14 of the LORCPM.

The competition numbers

The relevant market was defined as the market for hydrocarbon exploration and exploitation services provided by private operators at a national level. The analysis indicators were:

• Combined market share of the parties: 6.31%, compared to a dominance threshold of 48.51%.
• HHI index before the operation: 1,821.72 points; after: 1,838.45 points.
• HHI variation: 16.73 points, equivalent to 0.92% of the previous index.
• Turnover threshold for 2026: USD 96,400,000, exceeded by the participants, which triggered the mandatory prior notification.

The SCE concluded that the operation does not generate a substantial lessening of competition nor create or reinforce a dominant position, and that it meets the three structural safety criteria of Phase 1.

Who is behind OrionOil

ORIONOIL ER S.A. is an Ecuadorian company dedicated to the exploration and exploitation of hydrocarbons, with activities in Block 54. Its corporate structure, according to the portal of the Superintendency of Companies, Securities and Insurance, is as follows:

• ORION ENERGY ER, S.L. (Spain): 99.99999% of the capital.
• ORION ENERGY OCANOPB S.A. (Ecuador): 0.00001%.

In turn, ORION ENERGY OCANOPB S.A., which operates in Block 52, is owned 58% by ORION ENERGY OPB, S.L. (Spain) and 42% by ORIONOIL ER S.A. The reported ordinary revenues for 2025 were USD 48,099,825 for ORIONOIL ER S.A. and USD 17,963,389 for ORION ENERGY OCANOPB S.A.

Scope of the authorization

The resolution was signed by the reporting commissioner Marco Landázuri Álvarez, commissioner Ingreed Cajas Torres, commissioners Miguel Cumbicus Jiménez and David Ponce Gómez de la Torre, and the president of the CRPI, Marcelo Ortega Rodríguez. The SCE is led by superintendent Hans Willi Ehmig Dillon.

The text specifies that the authorization is limited to the regime of control of economic concentrations and does not replace the authorizations, approvals, or permits required under hydrocarbon or sectoral regulations. It also orders the publication of the non-confidential version on the institutional website and in the Official Registry, and notes that there is no section called “Official Gazette” on the SCE portal.

The reorganization of the control of Block 17 is of direct interest to investors, contractors, and workers in the hydrocarbon sector: ORIONOIL ER S.A. will now share the management of an Amazonian block under exploitation with PETROORIENTAL, while the competition authority certifies that the change in ownership does not substantially alter the conditions of the national exploration and exploitation market.

Source: Official Registry, Supplement No. 388, Tuesday, October 13, 2026, p. 28 (official reference: Resolution No. SCE-CRPI-22-2026).