"Has Ecuador started fracking? New oil project causes confusion and concern", 28 May 2026

Earlier this month, state-owned oil company Petroecuador announced a new project involving “hydraulic fracturing” in an oil block in the Ecuadorian Amazon. As a result, some observers spoke out against the environmental risks of high-volume shale “fracking,” in which water and chemicals are injected at high pressures into the tight bedrock to release trapped oil and gas.

The announcement concerned oil in Block 57, also known as the Shushufindi Libertador block, located in Sucumbíos province, which is largely covered by Amazonian rainforest. New drilling there would yield 930 barrels a day, extracted with the help of service provider Chuanqing Drilling Engineering Corporation (CCDC), a subsidiary of China National Petroleum Corporation.

Valdivieso, representing WCS Ecuador, said the government is using hydraulic fracturing more intensely than before to extract the remaining oil from older wells. But no data have been provided on water quantities or sources, he said. He also said they want to know where the water is released after it’s been used in the hydraulic fracturing process.

There aren’t any publicly available hydrogeological studies assessing groundwater contamination risk around Block 57, or explanations about how to mitigate the risk, given the well’s proximity to ecologically sensitive Amazon watersheds.

Petroecuador didn’t respond to a request for comment for this story.