The trials and tribulations for Ecuador’s deeply embattled petroleum industry continue. If crumbling infrastructure, refinery outages and pipeline ruptures were not enough, the Andean country’s state-controlled PetroEcuador finds itself embroiled in another scandal which could derail progress with reforming Ecuador’s troubled energy sector. The national oil company which owns and operates Ecuador’s refineries and related infrastructure is due to be merged with state-controlled PetroAmazonas which focuses on upstream operations. Shortly after that was announced by the country’s energy ministry, the CEOs of both companies resigned, although it was recently announced that Gonzalo Maldonado was appointed the new CEO of PetroEcuador. The latest scandal couldn’t come at a worse time for Ecuador’s Ministry of Energy and Non-Renewable Natural Resources, which is seeking a private operator to invest $2.4 billion and take operational control of PetroEcuador’s Esmeraldas refinery. Not only is Ecuador battling the overhang from former president Correa’s policy of […]