Nueva Loja
(), also known as ''Lago Agrio'', is the
capital of the
province
A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman '' provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...
of
Sucumbíos in
Ecuador
Ecuador ( ; ; Quechua: ''Ikwayur''; Shuar: ''Ecuador'' or ''Ekuatur''), officially the Republic of Ecuador ( es, República del Ecuador, which literally translates as "Republic of the Equator"; Quechua: ''Ikwadur Ripuwlika''; Shuar: ' ...
. It was founded in the 1960s as a base camp of
Texaco
Texaco, Inc. ("The Texas Company") is an American oil brand owned and operated by Chevron Corporation. Its flagship product is its fuel "Texaco with Techron". It also owned the Havoline motor oil brand. Texaco was an independent company unt ...
. The official population as of the 2010 census is 57,727.
Overview
Nueva Loja is located in central Sucumbíos, in the
Amazonian forest, and is one of the most important cities in northeastern Ecuador. Its importance comes from the
oil
An oil is any nonpolar chemical substance that is composed primarily of hydrocarbons and is hydrophobic (does not mix with water) & lipophilic (mixes with other oils). Oils are usually flammable and surface active. Most oils are unsaturated ...
extraction. It is named after
Loja as many of the first colonizers came from the Southern Province of Loja.
The area around the city, the
Lago Agrio oil field, has many ecological problems. The
rainforest has been all but obliterated in this region and
environmental degradation is severe, with catastrophic oil
pollution
Pollution is the introduction of contaminants into the natural environment that cause adverse change. Pollution can take the form of any substance (solid, liquid, or gas) or energy (such as radioactivity, heat, sound, or light). Pollutants, the ...
in some areas. On February 14, 2011, a judge in Lago Agrio ruled that
Chevron
Chevron (often relating to V-shaped patterns) may refer to:
Science and technology
* Chevron (aerospace), sawtooth patterns on some jet engines
* Chevron (anatomy), a bone
* '' Eulithis testata'', a moth
* Chevron (geology), a fold in rock ...
, now owner of Texaco, had to pay $9 billion in environmental damages for polluting the rainforest.
In 2017, the Superior Court of Justice of Brasil rejected enforcement of the 2013 Ecuadorian Supreme Court award, with the Prosecutor concluding that verdict was “issued in an irregular manner, especially under deplorable acts of corruption.”
In 2018 the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague ruled in favor of Chevron and said the 2013 Ecuador Supreme Court case was obtained "through fraud, bribery and corruption."
Right Back
Antonio Valencia
Luis Antonio Valencia Mosquera, known as Antonio Valencia (; born 4 August 1985), is an Ecuadorian former professional footballer who played primarily as a right-sided player throughout his career, initially as a right winger, before developin ...
was born in Nueva Loja.
Air transport
The city is served by
Lago Agrio Airport
Lago Agrio Airport ( es, Aeropuerto de Lago Agrio) is an airport serving Nueva Loja (also known as Lago Agrio), the capital of Sucumbíos Province in Ecuador.
The Lago Agrio VOR-DME (Ident: LAV) and non-directional beacon (Ident: LAR) are loc ...
, with daily flights from/to Quito.
Climate
Nueva Loja has a
tropical rainforest climate
A tropical rainforest climate, humid tropical climate or equatorial climate is a tropical climate sub-type usually found within 10 to 15 degrees latitude of the equator. There are some other areas at higher latitudes, such as the coast of southea ...
(Af) with heavy to very heavy rainfall year-round.
See also
*
Lago Agrio oil field
References
{{Province capitals in Ecuador
Populated places in Sucumbíos Province
Company towns
Provincial capitals in Ecuador