New president of Petroecuador
Eric Watkins
Senior Correspondent
LOS ANGELES, May 22 -- Ecuador has named Luis Jaramillo president of state-owned Petroecuador to replace Fernando Zurita who resigned May 20 after the company failed to meet oil production goals set by President Rafael Correa.
Zurita became president of Petroecuador in November 2007, vowing to boost production to 180,000 b/d. In December, however, the company produced 175,000 b/d, and output dropped to 169,000 b/d in April.
Earlier, Petroecuador announced plans to cut its 2008 production target to 172,000 b/d of crude oil, or some 4% less than the goal set at the first of the year (OGJ Online, May 22, 2008). Ecuador is South America's fifth-largest oil producer with output of about 500,000 b/d.