Ecuador muddling on
The South American producer needs an overhaul to spur new oil growth. Its new president isn't likely to deliver
Ecuador, Opec's smallest producer until Equatorial Guinea recently joined the group, has a new president sitting atop its troubled oil industry. Lenín Moreno, the leftist successor to Rafael Correa, won a narrow victory over his opponent, the conservative former banker Guillermo Lasso, and took office in May. While much of the rest of the region has rejected the rise of the "pink tide", a crop of left-leaning populists in the mould of Hugo Chavez, Ecuador's voters chose continuity. That bodes ill for Ecuador's oil industry, the country's economic engine, which desperately needs a reset. Correa leaves behind an oil industry headed in the wrong direction amid a dearth of investment, low prices
Also in this section
9 January 2026
OPEC+ remains on track as output falls, with only Gabon failing to hit its output targets in December, although Kazakhstan’s compliance was involuntary
9 January 2026
The Latin American producer’s crude prospects rely on a multi-pronged approach where even the relatively easy wins will take considerable time, effort and cost
9 January 2026
While many forecasters are reasserting the importance of oil and gas, petrostates should be under no illusion things are changing, and faster than they might think
8 January 2026
Indonesia and Malaysia are at the dawn of breathtaking digital capabilities. Their energy infrastructure must keep up with their ambitions
