Daily coverage from across the country, written for the expat community
Results for “oil”Clear
Coffee grown in Quito's UNESCO-designated Chocó Andino Biosphere Reserve is gaining international recognition and finding growing markets in Europe, adding another dimension to Ecuador's agricultural export story.
Ecuador’s largest gold mine exported a record $1.8 billion in 2025 — a 51% jump from the prior year — as gold prices topped $5,000 per ounce for the first time. Lundin Gold just announced $100 million in new exploration spending and discovered a fifth copper-gold deposit, signaling the mining boom is just getting started.
Ecuador’s annual inflation rate hit a 20-month high in January 2026, driven almost entirely by a 20.79% spike in housing and utility costs after the government ended electricity and diesel subsidies. Food prices are rising too — plantains have roughly doubled, and the basic family basket now costs $822 a month.
Washington and Quito have 'substantially concluded' negotiations on a reciprocal trade agreement set to be signed in coming weeks. But Ecuador's biggest non-oil export to the U.S. — shrimp worth $2 billion a year — may not get the tariff relief the industry needs to survive.
International cacao prices have collapsed from a record $13,000 per ton in late 2024 to $3,581 in February 2026. Ecuadorian farmers now receive roughly $130 per quintal — down from $400 a year ago — squeezing margins in communities across the coast.
Aquiles Alvarez, the sitting mayor of Ecuador's largest city, was arrested on organized crime and money laundering charges and transferred to Latacunga prison. Over 50,000 people marched in his defense while a massive commercial building fire burned just eight blocks away.
An international arbitral tribunal adjusted Ecuador's compensation obligation to Chevron downward by $5.7 million, landing at $215 million. The decades-old Amazon environmental dispute continues to drain government coffers in a tight fiscal year.
During President Noboa's visit to the UAE, Petroecuador and Abu Dhabi National Oil Company signed a memorandum of understanding for direct crude oil trade and refined product imports — cutting out intermediary traders.
The U.S. dollar has lost ground against major currencies, creating a mixed bag for Ecuador's dollarized economy: exports become more competitive and tourism gets a boost, but import costs rise — and you'll feel it at the supermarket.
Overnight storms collapsed a hillside in Quito's La Bota neighborhood, damaged multiple homes, and interrupted water service. No fatalities were reported, but the incident underscores rainy-season risks in the capital's hillside neighborhoods.
What started as a tariff dispute has spiraled into a full trade war between neighbors. Ecuador slapped 30% duties on Colombian imports; Colombia responded by suspending electricity sales and threatening counter-tariffs on 23 Ecuadorian products. The pipeline tariff jumped from $3 to $30 per barrel.
Fedexpor reports Ecuador’s non-petroleum, non-mining exports grew 16% to $25.2 billion in 2025. Shrimp led at $8.4 billion (+20%), cocoa surged 29% to $4.7 billion, and U.S.-bound exports jumped 30%. It’s the strongest diversification signal yet for the dollarized economy.
