QUITO, Aug 24 (Reuters) - Ecuador's government will honor the result of a referendum to block oil operations in the Amazon, which will see machinery removed within a year, the government said on Thursday.
Almost 59% of voters backed suspending oil operations at the 43-ITT block in a national referendum on Sunday - which coincided with the first round of presidential elections - in favor of protecting the Yasuni resererve.
The block produces some 58,000 barrels per day (bpd).
The national electoral council has not yet published the official results.
"Once the results of the referendum are made official and published by the (CNE), the government will abide by this decision," the government said in a statement.
A ruling by Ecuador's top court prior to the referndum means that state oil company Petroecuador must carry out the "progressive and orderly" withdrawal of all oil activities from the block within a year.
Petroecuador has said a vote to end exploration in Yasuni would cost Ecuador some $13.8 billion over the next two decades and result in the loss of 12% of the country's 480,000 barrels per day (bpd) oil production.
Energy Minister Fernando Santos told Ecuavisa television channel that dismantling operations at the block would cost some $600 million.
"As long as the dismantling process is not complete, we will continue producing crude," Santos said, underlining that Petroecuador has a year to halt activities.
"It's not a case of turning off the light from one day to the next."
Shutting down the field will be a job for Ecuador's next president, who will replace the outgoing President Guillermo Lasso following a second-round vote in October.
According to the CNE, the majority of voters in Ecuador's Amazonian provinces of Orellana and Sucumbios - where the country's oil industry is found - supported continuing to develop oil projects on the block.
Yasunidos, the collective which pushed for the referendum 10 years ago, will ask the court to enforce its ruling and the result, it said on X, formerly known as Twitter.
Reporting by Alexandra Valencia; Writing by Oliver Griffin; Editing by Stephen Coates
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
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