(Bloomberg) -- Ecuador’s state-controlled oil company expects to lift a force majeure on exports of its flagship Oriente crude next week if nationwide protests that have rattled the country come to an end. 

“Our calculations indicate that we may be able to lift the force majeure on July 7,” Petroecuador’s oil trading manager Pablo Noboa said in an interview from Quito. “Hopefully even sooner than that.” The company declared force majeure on Oriente exports on June 28th, he said. Napo exports were unaffected by the disturbances.

Oil output was nearly brought to a standstill, slumping to about 230,000 barrels this week, amid more than two weeks of often violent protests. Indigenous leaders and the government reached a deal Thursday that were expected to bring an immediate end to protesters’ mobilizations. 

Ecuador was the largest supplier of foreign oil to US West Coast refiners in 2021, after Canada, data from the Energy Information Administration show. 

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