Ecuador’s oil sector buoyed by new president

Former businessman has ambitious plans for domestic crude production but faces significant financial, political and ESG constraints

Ecuadorian voters have roundly rejected the leftist successor of exiled former president Rafael Correa and instead elected the conservative ex-banker Guillermo Lasso. Running in his third electoral campaign, Lasso overcame a double-digit disadvantage in the first round to defeat rival Andres Arauz by a 5pc margin. The electoral shift was dramatic but not without explanation. In early February, Lasso took barely 20pc of the vote in the first round as charismatic indigenous candidate Yaku Perez narrowly dropped out of the race. By the second round, Lasso added 12 of the 13 provinces won by Perez, as the former banker toned down his free-market rhetoric and appealed to indigenous groups and bro