PCR Ecuador S.A. v. República del Ecuador – por intermedio del Ministerio de Ambiente y Energía y la Empresa Pública de Hidrocarburos del Ecuador EP Petroecuador

At a glance

Parties

PCR Ecuador S.A. v. the Republic of Ecuador, acting through the Ministry of Environment and Energy (Ministerio de Ambiente y Energía) and Empresa Pública de Hidrocarburos del Ecuador EP Petroecuador

Case no.

PCA Case No. 2025-53

Forum and rules

Permanent Court of Arbitration (registry); UNCITRAL Arbitration Rules 1976; contract-based arbitration; seat Chile (per PCA case database)

Treaty

Contract-based: contracts of 1 July 1999 for the Pindo and Palanda-Yuca Sur marginal oil fields, and modifying contracts of 22 January 2011

Tribunal

Christa Mueller García (Presiding Arbitrator), Rafael Rincón Ordóñez, Víctor Bonnín Reynés

Sector

Oil and gas; marginal oil fields

Outcome

Pending. The only published document is Procedural Order No. 1 (6 April 2026), which sets the procedural rules and timetable.

The dispute

PCR Ecuador S.A. brought a contract-based arbitration against Ecuador, acting through the Ministry of Environment and Energy and EP Petroecuador. The arbitration arises under two sets of contracts. The first are the contracts of 1 July 1999 for the exploitation and exploration of crude oil and additional hydrocarbon exploration in the Pindo and Palanda-Yuca Sur marginal fields. These were concluded between the Ecuadorian State, through Petroecuador and its subsidiary Petroproducción, and Petrolamerec S.A., Fosforocomp S.A. and Petroriva S.A. The second are the contracts of 22 January 2011 between the Secretaría de Hidrocarburos and the same companies, which modified the service contract for the Pindo and Palanda-Yuca Sur blocks in Ecuador's Amazon region. The published document does not describe the claims, the measures complained of or the defences.

Key holdings

1. The language of the arbitration is Spanish. Documentary evidence and legal authorities may be filed in Spanish or English without translation. PO1 ¶¶ 2.1–2.4
2. Time limits are computed in calendar days under Article 2(2) of the UNCITRAL Rules. Deadlines expire at 23:59 Ecuador time. A deadline falling on a weekend or on a Quito or Ecuadorian holiday moves to the next business day. PO1 ¶¶ 3.1, 3.7
3. Each Party may make at most 20 document requests. Requests use a Stern schedule and must meet Article 3(3) of the 2020 IBA Rules on the Taking of Evidence. The Tribunal may draw inferences if a Party fails to produce documents it has ordered. PO1 ¶¶ 5.1–5.3.7
4. The 2020 IBA Rules serve as additional guidance on evidence. After the second round of written submissions, new evidence is admitted only with leave, for supervening and exceptional circumstances. PO1 ¶¶ 6.1, 6.3–6.4
5. By agreement of the Parties, the proceedings are transparent. The PCA will publish procedural orders, decisions, awards and the Parties' written pleadings, subject to redaction of confidential information. Hearings are public unless the Tribunal decides otherwise. PO1 ¶¶ 11.1–11.3
6. The timetable fixes the Statement of Claim for 1 July 2026. It provides three scenarios: no bifurcation, bifurcation granted, and bifurcation refused. Under the bifurcation scenarios, a request for bifurcation is due on 31 July 2026 and the Tribunal's decision on 30 September 2026. PO1 Annex 1

Procedural history

1. 1 December 2025The Claimant serves its Notice of Arbitration (date per the procedural timetable; the PCA database gives 4 December 2025 as the commencement date).
2. 19 February 2026The constitution of the Tribunal is communicated to the Parties.
3. 19 March 2026First procedural meeting held by videoconference.
4. 31 March 2026The Parties submit their agreements on the procedural timetable.
5. 6 April 2026The Tribunal issues the Terms of Appointment (Acta de Constitución) and Procedural Order No. 1.
6. 1 July 2026Statement of Claim due under the timetable.

Tribunal, counsel and experts

Decided by

• Christa Mueller García President
• Rafael Rincón Ordóñez Co-arbitrator
• Víctor Bonnín Reynés Co-arbitrator

Run a conflict check on these names →

Keywords

• Pindo
• Palanda-Yuca Sur
• marginal oil fields
• Petroecuador
• Petroproducción
• hydrocarbons service contract
• contract-based arbitration
• UNCITRAL Rules 1976
• oil and gas
• Ecuador
• Amazon region
• bifurcation
• document production
• Stern schedule
• IBA Rules on the Taking of Evidence
• transparency
• procedural order

Summary generated with AI from the published documents — refer to the award for the authoritative text.