Since the 1970s, oil activity has become the principal source of revenue for the Ecuadorian government. This activity has mainly concentrated in the north of the Ecuadorian Amazon. However, the Ecuadorian government has tried many times to expand this resource extractive frontier toward the centre-southern Amazonian provinces. This latter region is considered one of the best conserved rainforest areas and the ancestral territory of diverse indigenous peoples. One of these attempts of oil expansion was the concession of the oil block n.24. It was granted to the oil company Arco Oriente Inc. in 1998, without previous information and consultation to the directly affected inhabitants. They are mainly Shuar and Achuar indigenous peoples who rely on the rainforest ecosystem for securing their livelihoods. Once the contract was signed the oil company tried to initiate its exploratory activities without success due to the local opposition. As a result, Arco sold the block to Burlington Resources Ecuador Ltd in 2000 which experienced the same strong local resistance; it consequently withdrew from the project. However, in 2012, the government of Ecuador has started a new round of oil concessions in south-east Ecuador which are today quite controversial and debated.