Petroamazonas to begin operating former Occidental oil fields next week

QUITO, Aug. 6 (Xinhua) -- Ecuador's state-owned company Petroamazonas will start to operate the oil fields left by California-based Occidental Petroleum Corp. for five years next Tuesday, Petroecuador announced Wednesday.

Petroamazonas will replace a temporary administrative unit of Petroecuador to manage the so-called Bloc 15 fields left by Occidental.

Currently the daily production of Bloc 15 is some 95,000 barrels, and Petroamazonas has vowed to increase the number to 101,000 barrels by the end of this year.

Ecuador canceled Occidental's operating contract in May 2006, claiming the company had broken several of the terms, particularly by transferring a 40-percent stake in its Ecuadoran projects to Canada's EnCana Corp. without approval from the Ecuadoran government.

Director of Petroamazonas Wilson Pastor said his company is a body to serve the country rather than a newly-formed oil company.

He also mentioned the possibility of combining Petroamazonas with Petroecuador within a short period of time.

Ecuador is South America's fifth largest oil producer.