Ecuador seeks partner to stop gas flaring as anger rises in the Amazon

Oil and gas pipelines are pictured on the side of a road near a state-owned oil company Petroecuado's plant in Lago Agrio, Ecuador May 3, 2022. Picture taken May 3, 2022. REUTERS/Santiago Arcos

JOYA DE LOS SACHAS, Ecuador (Reuters) - Ecuador oil company Petroecuador says it is working to shut down gas flares in the Amazon to comply with a court-imposed deadline, but progress is too slow for nearby communities who allege the flares cause cancer and other illnesses.

A provincial tribunal in Sucumbios province last year ordered Petroecuador and a handful of private operators to stop hundreds of flares - which burn off natural gas emitted during oil production when there is no infrastructure to capture it - in inhabited areas by March 2023.