厄瓜多尔《石油法实施细则》及其潜在影响

“The Regulation for the Application of the Hydrocarbon Law” in Ecuador and its potential impact

厄瓜多尔在2022年初颁布的《石油法实施细则》以增加产量、吸引投资为目标,主要就厄瓜多尔国家石油公司对外合作模式、石油招标委员会、石油合同、运输协议、油气信息登记等进行了规定。最显著的变化是允许厄瓜多尔国家石油公司对外合作开发油气资源以及采用新的产品分成合同,并且规定其他国家国有石油公司可以通过直接谈判的方式与厄瓜多尔国家石油公司确立合作关系。《石油法实施细则》关于石油招标委员会、合同变更、合同转制、合同转让、合同废止、运输协议、油气信息登记的规定,有利于改善油气行业投资环境,力推产品分成合同模式,提高投资灵活性,强化投资者权益保障。《石油法实施细则》有利于中资石油公司获取优质资源,延续在厄瓜多尔的经营,但并不能解决政策不稳定、社区关系复杂等问题。

In early 2022, Ecuador published “The Regulation for the Application of the Hydrocarbon Law” to increase production and attract more investments, which mainly stipulates the mode of foreign cooperation, petroleum tendering committee, petroleum contract, transportation agreement, oil and gas information registration and so on. The most notable changes of the regulation are to allow Petroecuador to jointly develop oil resources and the adopt the new production sharing contract model. It also stipulates that national oil companies of foreign countries can directly negotiate with Petroecuador to establish partnerships. Furthermore, the contents related to petroleum tendering committee, contract modification, contract migration, contract transfer, contract caducity, transportation agreement, and oil and gas information registry in the regulation will help improve the investment environment of the oil and gas industry. The regulation facilitating production sharing contract could increase investment flexibility, strengthen the protection of investors’ rights and interests, help Chinese oil companies obtain highquality oil resources and continue their operations in Ecuador, but it cannot solve such problems as unstable policies and complex community issues.