Petroecuador, Ecuador's national oil company, has signed a USD-95-million (EUR 89m) contract for the supply of anhydrous ethanol with four local producers -- Consorcio Artesanal Cado, Producargo SA, Codana SA and Soderal SA.

Announcing the deal at the end of March, Petroecuador said it will ensure the supply of Ecopais gasoline in the eight provinces where the fuel is currently marketed. Ecopais is a mixture of 5% ethanol from sugarcane and 95% gasoline. It has daily sales of about one million gallons (3.8 million litres) in the provinces in which it is distributed. The fuel was introduced in 2010 at 19 pilot service stations and at the moment is offered at 372 gas stations.

According to the announcement, the Ecuadorian agriculture industry has increased its ethanol production capacity from 33.6 million litres in 2015 to 75 million litres in the current year.

 

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