ECUADOR: Oil output below pre-strike level

PetroEcuador, Ecuador’s state oil producer, said output is at 165,000 barrels a day, 18 percent below normal, as the company works to repair damage caused during a strike last week.

Oil production should reach 190,000 barrels a day by the end of this week, PetroEcuador spokesman Eduardo Naranjo said Monday in a telephone interview from Quito. The company was producing 200,000 barrels a day before the strike.

”Some of the facilities were damaged by the strikers,” said Naranjo, who added that recovery work has taken longer than expected.

Protesters damaged facilities and stole such equipment as cables, making repairs difficult, he said.

Bloomberg