据管道&天然气杂志网6月29日厄瓜多尔埃斯梅拉达斯报道，厄瓜多尔周一首次用一艘超大型油轮(VLCC)出口了其旗舰原油之一Orient货物。此前，这个南美国家对其一个终端进行了升级，希望这将有助于促进其对亚洲的出口。
由于国家石油公司 Petroecuador的SOTE管道从Balao港口到附近的Punta Gorda终端的扩建工程的建设，使得这艘悬挂巴拿马国旗的Gem 2号油轮能够运送108万桶 Oriente，该终端由私人控股财团OCP厄瓜多尔运营。
Balao是厄瓜多尔的主要石油港口，但与Punta Gorda不同，它无法接收能够运输多达200万桶原油的VLCC。这意味着Petroecuador的客户不得不将中级Oriente原油分几批装载到较小的油轮上。
厄瓜多尔希望，新的互联互通将降低客户的物流成本，使他们能够一次性装载Oriente和较重级别的Napo，使该国的石油更具竞争力，因为该国正寻求提高原油产量，以重振陷入困境的经济。
厄瓜多尔石油公司（Petroecuador）新任首席执行官Pablo Luna对记者表示，这有助于我们的原油在国际市场有更好的定位。
Gem2号还装载了约70万桶Napo原油。
郝芬 译自 管道&天然气杂志网
原文如下：
Eyeing Asian Market, Ecuador Begins Crude Exports in Larger Vessels
Ecuador for the first time align="justify"> The shipment of 1.08 million barrels of Oriente aboard the Panama-flagged Gem No. 2 vessel was made possible due to the construction of an extension of state oil company Petroecuador's SOTE pipeline from the Balao port to the nearby Punta Gorda terminal, which is operated by privately-held consortium OCP Ecuador.
Balao is Ecuador's main oil port, but unlike Punta Gorda, is unable to receive VLCCs, which are capable of transporting up to 2 million barrels of crude. That meant Petroecuador's customers had to load medium-grade Oriente crude in several parcels aboard smaller tankers.
Ecuador is hoping the new interconnection will lower its customers' logistics costs and enable them to load both Oriente and the heavier Napo grades in a single shipment, making the country's oil more competitive as it seeks to boost crude output to revive a struggling economy.
"It better positions our crude in international markets," Petroecuador's newly installed Chief Executive Pablo Luna told reporters.
The Gem No. 2 also loaded some 700,000 barrels of Napo crude.