City Investing had operated in the area according to local norms and standards. Pacalta's leadership, through CEO John Wright, was not satisfied with those standards. After Pacalta acquired 100 percent of City Investing in 1996, Mr. Wright decided to upgrade operations to environmental and operating standards equaling those in Canada. When AEC took control of Pacalta's operations in Ecuador, we found they had made great strides to improve operations. Current production capability of AEC's land base is 42,000 BOPD of mostly medium-gravity crude, due to constraints in export pipeline capacity.
Productive capacity is significantly more.
As of year-end 1999, AEC's proven and probable reserves are more than 280 million barrels. About 200 people are employed in operations, the majority of them Ecuadorean. AEC also holds rights to about 550,000 acres of undeveloped land. In addition, AEC is a major participant in an industry consortium proposing to build a major new export pipeline that will unlock more of Ecuador's badly needed wealth potential. Environmental Enhancements AEC decided to build further upon Pacalta's environmental program.