Balao,oil port, northwestern Ecuador, on the Pacific Ocean, coast adjacent to Esmeraldas city. Its development is entirely due to its choice as the terminus for the Trans-Ecuadorian Pipeline, built 1970–72 to exploit the rich petroleum deposits of Ecuador’s Napo province, in El the Oriente region, the tropical rainforest of the headwaters of the Amazon east of the Andes. Balao’s terminal, opened August 1972, is the seaward end of the 313-mile (504-kilometre) oil transportation system, one of the world’s highest major pipelines, which crosses the Andes at a maximum elevation of over 13,300 feet (4,054 m).

The port accommodates 100,000-ton tankers, and special installations have been built to guard against the pollution of Pacific waters from spillages. The port, pipeline, and oil fields were developed by local subsidiaries of Texaco, Inc., and Gulf Oil Corp., which were headquartered in the United States. By 1977 Ecuador owned the major share of its petroleum industry. Pop. (19742001) 217,326262.