Exploiting the ITT will take around three years

The development of the axis Ishpingo-Tambococha-Tiputini (ITT) would take between 3 and 5 years to deliver its first barrel of oil in the event that the Ecuadorian Government decides to carry out the so-called ‘Plan B’ which consists of the exploitation of the ITT, and cancel the initiative to leave the oil in the ground.

Plan B will be developed in two phases: the first will correspond to the development of the Tiputini field, and will then pass to the second phase, which will be subject to the results of the 3D seismic which was already authorized last year.

Tambococha production will be collected and transferred to the pumping station in the Tiputini field, through a pipeline of 10 km and 24 inches (60 centimeters) in diameter. This duct,  of 7.1 kilometers will be built within the National Park Yasuní and 2.9 kilometers will be out of the area.

In Tiputini the production from this field will be incorporated and the fluid will continue to the oil companies of block 31 of Petroamazonas.

In total, all extraction activities will occupy 16.8 hectares of the Yasuni National Park, and according to the terms established in the environmental impact study, the construction of each platform in the Tambococha and and Tiputini fields will take 120 days.

The former trade unionist  of Petroecuador, Fernando Villavicencio, emphasized that until Plan B is carried out, President Rafael Correa should ask the Assembly to declare the area of national interest, as provided by the article 407 of the Constitution, since  the ITT is located within the Yasuni Park.

The Government of Rafael Correa is trying  to raise, trough international donations, 3 600 million dollars in Exchange for leaving the Yasuní ITT oil underground. In six years it has raised 7.86 million, what some consider to be a failure that would lead to the extraction of oil, with the consequential impact on the fragile ecosystem of the rich biodiversity of the area of the Yasuní.