Five oil concessions cover the Yasuní National Park - crudely rectangular ‘blocks’ enclosing about 200,000 hectares each. They have been allocated by the Government of Ecuador to oil companies on the assumption that, although industrial activity on the surface within the Park remains illegal, the state owns the subsoil and is entitled to sell the right to explore for oil. Exploration within the park has already taken place in all five blocks.
Three of the blocks partially overlap the northern and western extent of the Park. They are already in production, thus far largely in parts of the blocks that lie outside the Park:
