Fuel Theft Surge Drains Ecuador’s Oil Industry

Ecuador and its state-run oil firm Petroecuador are losing millions of U.S. dollars as organized crime groups are increasingly targeting fuel pipelines to tap and steal gasoline and diesel to support drug trafficking and production. The number of instances in which illegal homemade valves are being used to tap Ecuador’s pipelines has surged in recent years, from around three dozen back in 2022 to more than 770 this year through October, a Reuters investigation has found. All these illegal taps have cost Petroecuador more than $215 million…