QUITO, Aug 21 (Reuters) - The most viable scenario for the shutdown of Ecuador's 43-ITT oil block in the country's Amazon is a closure which takes place over five years and five months, according to a government document presented to the country's constitutional court and seen by Reuters.

A year ago a majority of Ecuadoreans voted to shutdown the block to protect the Yasuni reserve, with the top court granting one year for the removal of oil infrastructure in the region.

"We're going to start closing some wells, there has been no investment in ITT since the referendum, we have already identified the plan, it's a pretty extensive document on technical issues, but the plan is to get started," Energy Minister Antonio Goncalves told a local news outlet.

The document outlines two other scenarios for the shutdown and says wells could begin to be turned off from this month, but that the quantity of wells and their closure dates depend on studies.

Environmentalists and Indigenous groups in Ecuador warned President Daniel Noboa at the start of this year that he risked legal action if he did not comply with the referendum.

Noboa had floated the idea of postponing the block's closure to shore up funds needed to crackdown on organized crime throughout the Andean country.

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https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/most-viable-shutdown-scenario-ecuador-yasuni-block-take-five-years-document-2024-08-21/