The people of Ecuador are rising up to refound their country as a pluri-national homeland for all. This inspiring movement, with Ecuador's indigenous peoples at its heart, is part of the revolution spreading across the Americas, laying the groundwork for a new, fairer, world. Ecuador Rising aims to bring news and analysis of events unfolding in Ecuador to english speakers.

Tuesday, January 09, 2007

Ecuador earns $1.1 bln from Occidental oil fields

QUITO, Jan 5 (Reuters) - Ecuador earned $1.1 billion last year from the sale of 22.1 million barrels of oil extracted from the former oil fields of Occidental Petroleum the state unit that operates the fields said on Friday.

State oil company Petroecuador took over the Occidental's oil fields in May, after accusations that the Los Angeles-based company sold part of an oil block without government authorization.

From May to December Petroecuador sold an average of 96,737 barrels of oil per day at a price of around $50 each, the temporary state unit said in a statement.

Petroecuador operates Occidental's Block 15 and the Eden-Yuturi and Limoncocha fields, which together produce an average of 100,000 barrels of oil per day.

The cost of production per barrel was $4.74, lower than the $6.55 that Occidental had set on its budget to extract each barrel in 2006.

The fields, with proven reserves of 522 million barrels, are key to Ecuador as the oil-rich nation has failed to boost production in recent years.

Occidental filed an arbitration claim seeking $1 billion in damages and the return of its assets in the Andean country.

Leftist Rafael Correa, the winner of Ecuador's presidency, has said the legal spat with Occidental was a "closed case" in which Ecuadorean law had been applied.

Ecuador, South America's fifth largest oil producer, has output of around 530,000 bpd.

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