OPEC Member Ecuador Admits That It Is Pumping Oil At A Loss

Fuel Fix/Bloomberg: Ecuador reveals the pain inside OPEC: It’s pumping oil at a loss

Ecuador has revealed the financial stress inside OPEC created by low oil prices, becoming the first member of the group to say it’s pumping at a loss.

President Rafael Correa said on Tuesday that the South American nation is receiving as little as $30 a barrel for its crude, while production costs average about $39. The warning comes after several other members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, including Algeria and Libya, said the group should consider holding an emergency meeting to respond to the drop in oil prices.

“We are going through a very difficult year economically because the price of oil collapsed,” Correa said in a speech in the central highland province of Cotopaxi.

WNU Editor: Ecuador has to prepare itself for the real possibility that low oil prices may be a fact of life for the next few years.