OREANDA-NEWS. PetroEcuador is evaluating 24 crude supply proposals submitted by oil companies and trading houses in a first-ever plan to import crude into the small Opec country.

The state-owned company is seeking to import 28°API low-sulfur crude to optimize the 110,000 b/d Esmeraldas refinery when it completes a major overhaul later this year.

The import plan, which has yet to be approved by the government, has sparked domestic controversy, with critics asserting that Ecuador should be able to supply its own refineries.

PetroEcuador is currently evaluating the proposals to determine the advantages and economic viability of the imports, PetroEcuador chief executive Carlos Pareja Yannuzzelli said.

He said the import plan is an initiative of PetroEcuador, not the government, and aims to tap into a commercial opportunity at a time when oil prices have declined.

He said the revamped refinery will be able to process crude of at least 24°API which the country produces, but using a higher quality crude that the country does not produce the refinery will yield more and better quality products.

"For every higher degree of API crude processed by the Esmeraldas refinery, we will obtain 2pc more clean products and that means fewer imports and more savings for the country," he said.

Ecuador currently produces around 540,000 b/d of crude.

Fellow Latin American crude producers Venezuela and Argentina have also resorted to crude imports over the past year, and Mexico is looking to swap some of its heavy crude for US light crude.