Ecuador is a Latin American country belonging to OPEC (Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries), a thirteen-member organization of oil exporters. Its petroleum output is low compared to other OPEC member states; hence OPEC considers it among its small petroleum producers. However, the petroleum industry in Ecuador enjoys local supremacy as the main source of income because of the oil-centered resource strategy in the country for the past forty years (Martz, 1987). Nevertheless, the oil industry in Ecuador faces recurrent risks of depleting its reserves.
When oil mining started in the 1970s, a military government in office at that time apportioned half of the oil payments to the military expenditure. Rising administration expenses together with flamboyant oil use led to high inflation rates and a large difference between the wealthy and the poor (Martz, 1987). By the 1980s, petroleum supply could not meet the country’s public demand and export. At that time, a constitutional government had substituted the military regime. Jaime Roldo, a presidential aspirant, quoted that Ecuador needed to increase its oil reserves in order to avert becoming a petroleum buyer during his presidential campaigns (Martz, 1987). However, his reign did little to help as oil reserves kept dwindling despite his effort to implement stringent policies.
Ecuador did not face serious conflicts over oil control. CEPE (Corporacion Estatal Petrolera Ecuatoriana), an entity activated in 1972 controlled Ecuadorian oil and was “the principal instrument for the State to control its sovereignty over its natural resources” (Martz, 1987, p. 271). CEPE ran its operations together with Texaco bloc.
Deforestation is the main environmental concern that oil mining causes in Ecuador. Most of the native woodlands have vanished, with only a small number of them remaining especially in private scenery reserves (Palmerlee, Grosberg & McCathy, 2006). A few forests in the Ecuadorian Amazon are intact, although disintegration remains a threat. Deforestation began after the unearthing of oil. Construction of roads and the subsequent arrival of colonialists further worsened the situation. Apart from oil mining, tree cutting for timber and livestock keeping have also contributed to deforestation. Inhabitants of the rainforests who rely on the rivers for domestic water use have drastically felt the deforestation effects (Palmerlee et al., 2006).
Water is another natural resource that oil mining affects. Oil remains and oil refining chemicals spill into water bodies causing contamination. Consequently, water pollution affects the water flora and fauna. The most regrettable incident is that the Ecuadorian authority permits oil exploration and supports land clearing without regard for jungles, rivers, animals, and dwellers. The government is to blame for environmental concerns because it has failed to protect its natural resources. In addition, it is short of finances to support a powerful state-funded conservation plan (Palmerlee et al., 2006).
In my opinion, the government has an opportunity to solve the ecological stalemate while continuing to produce petroleum for export. It can do this by allocating a significant part of its oil revenues to an environmental conservation program. The environmental conservation program will ensure that the nation reaps the benefits of oil without negative implications to the ecology. It can also devise ecologically friendly means of oil exploration such as, investing in advanced machinery for oil drilling that will get to the oil deposits without causing much damage. Ecuadorians need to use other transport means apart from the road to curb land destruction because of road construction.
References
Martz, J. D. (1987). Politics and petroleum in Ecuador. NJ: Transaction.
Palmerlee, D., Grosberg, M., & McCathy, C. (2006). Ecuador and the Galapagos Islands. (7th ed.). Melbourne, Australia: Lonely Planet.