Ecuador cancels oil contract with Occidental Petroleum

[Judi Lynn]

Ecuador cancels oil contract with Occidental Petroleum
05.15.2006, 11:15 PM

QUITO (AFX) - Ecuador, which has Latin America's fifth largest oil reserves, cancelled Occidental Petroleum Company's operating contract in the country and ordered the US firm's assets seized.

Energy Minister Ivan Rodriguez made the announcement after Occidental was found guilty of illegal sale of its stock and after rejecting its attempt to avoid the sanction.

'We have decided to accept the suit and petition brought by Petroecuador and the prosecutor's office, and the joint venture contract has been declared void,' Rodriguez said in a news conference.

Occidental, which is based in California, has since the 1990s been taking about 100,000 barrels of crude a day from Ecuador's Amazon basin. The US firm is the main investor in Ecuador's oil industry.
(snip/...)

http://www.forbes.com/home/feeds/afx/2006/05/15/afx2748253.html

[Vidar]

1. Glad to see the oil companies getting what they deserve, despite

the repercusions for America.

[tsuki]

2. Interesting article.

"Occidental's expulsion followed a protracted legal dispute over its move to sell a 40 pct share in its Ecuador operations to Encana Corp. of Canada, without first consulting the Quito authorities.

EnCana last year sold its Ecuador oil assets to a Chinese consortium."

[leftchick]

3. That is interesting.

China is doing a lot of oil deals these days.

[HysteryDiagnosis]

4. Just how many terrorists are running the government in

Ecuador these days??? I'm sure the number just went up dramatically.

[Skink]

5. Ecuador is getting cocky.

We need some bases in equador. Yeah bases in Equador.

[Acadia Blue]

6. Oil should be nationalized in ALL countries, as water, electricity and

other things that we all use in common.

[Up2Late]

7. Looks like another country figured out that Bush can't manage two crisis

...at the same time, let alone 6 or 7. Here's a link to a BBC News article too: <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4988624.stm>

[Judi Lynn]

8. Small detail, Occidental owes Ecuador $1bn in (disputed (?)) taxes!

From the BBC News article you provided:

In a statement the company said it was "evaluating its legal options to defend its interests", but expressed hope that an "amicable settlement" could be reached.

It had previously offered the Ecuador government up to $1bn (£569m) in disputed taxes, investments and extra revenues to end the dispute, while denying wrongdoing.
(snip)

In the meantime, _Bush has U.S. Trade Representatives thundering at Ecuador, just as Cheney bullied Indian officials for Enron debts. More power to Ecuador!

Thank you, Up2Late, for this great article.

[Judi Lynn]

9. Kick!

:kick: :kick: :kick:

[Up2Late]

10. Not a problem. Wow, I just read the rest of that Forbes article, and...

...WOW! To say it's full of holes and a little biased is giving way too much credit.

And did you see the disclaimer at the bottom of the article? Always a bad sign.

Neither the Subscriber nor AFX News warrants the completeness or accuracy of the Service or the suitability of the Service as a trading aid and neither accepts any liability for losses howsoever incurred. The content on this site, including news, quotes, data and other information, is provided by AFX News and its third party content providers for your personal information only, and neither AFX News nor its third party content providers shall be liable for any errors, inaccuracies or delays in content, or for any actions taken in reliance thereon.