The spread of the coronavirus slows the sale of oil to countries such as China, and Ecuador loses about USD 4 million a day due to this situation.
The constant fall in the international price of a barrel of oil has caused the State to receive less income from the sale of this energy mineral.
The reference WTI for the Ecuadorian barrel was quoted on February 19 at USD 53.29. A week later it fell to USD 48.71 and this Thursday, February 27, it continued to fall and registered a price of USD 46.04.
The presence of the coronavirus propagated in China is one of the factors that reduced the purchase of crude oil and caused its market value to collapse. Ecuador loses about USD 4 million a day from this cause.
The Minister of Energy, José Agusto Briones, is aware of the difficult situation, as the price of Ecuadorian oil is well below USD 51 of the general state budget.
This fall generates at the same time that the indicator known as country risk is increasing. On Thursday, February 20, it recorded 1,152 points, this Monday it rose to 1,328 and on Tuesday it reached 1,404. That is why the government analyzes measures to mitigate the impact of the fall in the price of crude oil. Among them, reduce public spending.
At the moment, as long as the health emergency in China is maintained, the scenario is not positive, because the Asian country is one of the largest buyers of fuel in the world.
Source: Ecuavisa, social networks
Be the first to comment