The rural people of Sucumbios Province in Ecuador's Oriente region must try to raise families amid severe social and economic deprivation. Lying about 250 kilometers northeast of Ecuador's capital city, Quito, the northern Oriente encompasses the region of the Napo, Aguarico and Putamayo Rivers, important tributaries to the Amazon River. Centered on the towns of Lago Agrio and Puerto del Carmen, with roughly 10,000 and 800 people respectively, it is the poorest region of a poor country. Ecuador's Situation Ecuador is the fourth largest oil producer in Latin America. Other operators in the region include Occidental Petroleum, Agip, Kerr-McGee and Repsol, but the national oil company, PetroEcuador, is the largest producer.
Oil exports are crucial to the country's economic recovery.
While oil has been produced for decades, given the poor state of integration of the industry with the local community, this region is still a petroleum frontier. There is little formal health care, very uneven schooling, few roads and a government structure that is highly susceptible to change. The main economic activities are subsistence farming, plus some plantation agriculture producing crops such as roses, bananas and coffee, and logging. But not everyone finds such work, and this exacerbates other social problems. City Investing had operated in the area according to local norms and standards.