Ecuador oil talks spark tepid response: UpdateOREANDA-NEWS. April 08, 2016. Ecuador will host a meeting tomorrow of regional oil exporters to coordinate a stance on freezing production despite a mixed response, exposing a contradiction between the proposal and the reality of flat or declining output for most of the region.

The ambitious Ecuadorean objective of establishing a united Latin American posture ahead of a 17 April meeting of Opec and non-Opec producers in Doha will be difficult to fulfill, as the response to Quito invitation has been tepid. Most producers are focused inward, trying to make ends meet with sharply lower oil revenue and political strife.

Ecuador, Opec?s smallest member, said early this week that officials from Colombia and Venezuela would attend, but acknowledged difficulty in getting Mexico on board. Brazil is not part of Ecuador campaign, and earlier stated that it could not participate in any freeze because it would run counter to its policies.

Ecuador has been seeking to conduct a regional meeting for weeks, but has apparently not been successful in mustering much enthusiasm.

Ecuadorean officials today confirmed that a meeting of foreign and energy ministers from Ecuador, Venezuela, Colombia and Mexico will take place tomorrow at the headquarters of the the Union of South American Nations (Unasur), outside of Quito.

An official in the Colombian president office had told Argus today that neither acting energy minister Maria Lorena Guti?rrez nor deputy minister Carlos Fernando Eraso planned to attend tomorrow meeting, and that it would appear that Colombia will not be represented. But a government source told Argus this afternoon that Guti?rrez will attend.

Even Ecuador?s close political ally and Opec founding member Venezuela appears more focused on the Doha meeting that it helped to coordinate along with Russia, Saudi Arabia and Qatar.

Venezuelan energy minister and state-owned PdV chief executive Eulogio Del Pino will attend, a senior PdV official told Argus yesterday. But the official declined to specify when Del Pino would arrive. Venezuela is facing the imminent shutdown of a major hydroelectric plant that could deeply impact its oil operations.

Brazil, Mexico and Colombia are not Opec members.

The feeble response to Ecuador overture illustrates the dilemma facing most producers from Opec and non-Opec countries alike in Latin America. Production is stagnant at best across the region, so a production freeze at January levels would signify sustaining or even increasing output, a goal that none of the producers appears in a position to fulfill.

Colombia?s National Hydrocarbons Agency (ANH) forecasts oil production of 968,000 b/d this year, compared with 1.005mn b/d in 2015. The finance ministry expects 2016 output to be even lower at 921,000 b/d.

Mexico expects 2016 production of 2.13mn b/d, compared with 2.27mn b/d in 2015.

Venezuela production data is opaque, but Argus estimates stagnant output of around 2.3mn b/d.

Brazil, the country with the most immediate upside potential thanks to extensive sub-salt deposits and existing foreign investment, has seen production stall in recent months. February output averaged 2.335mn b/d, down 4pc compared with February 2015, according to oil regulator ANP. The decline follows a historic 7pc production drop between December 2015 and January 2016, when output slipped from 2.532mn b/d to 2.353mn b/d.