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	'''The oil industry on the Santa Elena Peninsula''' is more than a century old. The peninsula holds Ecuador's first oil well, its second most important refinery and the national terminal for imported cooking gas.		'''The oil industry on the Santa Elena Peninsula''' is more than a century old. The peninsula holds Ecuador's first oil well, its second most important refinery and the national terminal for imported cooking gas.

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{{EW hero|portal=pen|kicker=[[:Category:Infrastructure|Infrastructure]]|emoji={{EW teaser/data|Oil Industry on the Peninsula|e}}|title=Oil Industry on the Peninsula|hook={{EW teaser/data|Oil Industry on the Peninsula}}|min=2}}
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'''The oil industry on the Santa Elena Peninsula''' is more than a century old. The peninsula holds Ecuador's first oil well, its second most important refinery and the national terminal for imported cooking gas.

== The oil field ==
The Gustavo Galindo Velasco block — the "Ancón block" — was discovered in 1911, when Ecuador's first oil well was drilled at [[Ancon|Ancón]].
{| class="wikitable"
! Period !! Operator
|-
| 1921–1976 || Anglo Ecuadorian Oilfields (2,814 wells drilled)
|-
| 1976–1994 || CEPE, the state oil company
|-
| 1994–2001 || ESPOL with Compañía General de Combustibles
|-
| 2001/02– || '''Pacifpetrol''' (contract extended to 2029)
|}
The block covers 1,200 km² (720 km² on land). Of its 2,882 wells, about 2,400 are in Santa Elena canton (Ancón, Prosperidad, El Tambo, Ballenita) and 242 in La Libertad. Most wells now need pumps or swabbing to produce. Pacifpetrol was the first company in Ecuador to run vehicles on natural gas from its own field. A smaller block at Pacoa has 48 wells.

== The refinery ==
'''Refinería La Libertad''' (Petroecuador) has three refining units processing about 45,000 barrels a day and has run for more than 50 years. It supplies Santa Elena, Guayas, part of Manabí and the Galápagos, and has its own seawater desalination plant.

{{EW dyk|emoji=🌧️|…almost all of the year's rain falls between January and April?|page=Natural Hazards on the Peninsula|cta=Rainy-season tips →}}

== Pipelines and terminals ==
* '''La Libertad–Pascuales''' products pipeline to Guayaquil (about 70 km in the province).
* '''La Libertad–Manta''' products pipeline (about 69 km in the province).
* About 43 km of field lines serve Salinas, Ancón and Atahualpa.
* '''La Libertad oil terminal:''' tankers run to and from Esmeraldas.
* '''Monteverde LPG terminal:''' receives imported cooking gas by ship and sends it through a 19 km pipeline that joins the Pascuales line. It cost USD 571 million.

== Legacy ==
* 188 abandoned wells now lie inside populated areas. Municipal rules require 30 m clearance around wells and 15 m either side of pipelines.
* In Salinas, some informal settlements in José Luis Tamayo have been built over working wells and pipes.
* The state environmental repair programme (PRAS) records 246 spills and 26 formation-water pits in Atahualpa and Ancón; Ancón alone has 253 abandoned wells.
* Natural oil seeps occur in Santa Elena city and behind the Ecuasal salt ponds in Salinas.

== See also ==
* [[Ancon Heritage Site]]
* [[Ancon]]
* [[La Libertad]]

''Sources: PDOT cantón Santa Elena (pp. 24–30); PDOT Salinas 2023–2027 (pp. 112, 186–188); PDOT La Libertad 2024–2030 (pp. 47–50, 264); PDOT Provincia de Santa Elena 2015–2019 (p. 216) and 2019–2023 (pp. 92, 278–279).''

{{EW explore|Ancon Heritage Site|La Libertad|How the Peninsula Works|Aeropuerto General Ulpiano Páez|Electricity on the Peninsula|Montañita}}
{{EW next|Ancon}}

[[Category:La Peninsula]]
[[Category:Santa Elena Province]]
[[Category:Infrastructure]]

Oil Industry on the Peninsula/en - Revision history

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