Ecuador seeks to soothe oil dispute with US

QUITO (AFP) – Ecuador moved to reassure the United States that it was not expropriating foreign assets when it cancelled a US oil firm’s exploration rights and took over its production infrastructure.

Quito appeared anxious to soothe fraying bilateral ties after Washington abruptly suspended free-trade talks with the South American nation and an Ecuadoran minister accused it of “blackmail”.

A foreign ministry statement said the move taken Monday against California-based Occidental Petroleum Corporation, Ecuador’s main foreign investor, was strictly a legal matter, “not a conflict between two states.”

“At no time … were bilateral or multilateral treaty provisions violated,” nor did the move involve “expropriation or nationalization of Occidental’s investments,” the statement said.

AFP