Ecuador president imposes oil nationalization law

Ecuador president imposes oil nationalization law
July 24, 2010, 5:48PM

President Rafael Correa announced Saturday that he will enact a change to Ecuador's hydrocarbons law allowing the government to nationalize oil fields if a private operator doesn't comply with local laws.

The law will go into effect Monday without the approval of the National Assembly because lawmakers failed to meet the time limit set to decide the bill's fate, Correa said.

Lawmakers called a last-minute session before the midnight Sunday deadline, but the president said he would not recognize the meeting because it was not called with sufficient anticipation.

Ecuadorean law allows the president to enact bills the government deems urgent if lawmakers fail to approve, modify or reject them within set time limits.

"The time periods have not been met and on Monday I will send this law to the official registry to be published and take effect," Correa said on the radio program "Dialogue."

More:
http://www.businessweek.com/ap/financialnews/D9H5LVA00.htm

Opec member Ecuador says it will start renegotiating contracts with private oil companies as it moves to increase state control over the sector.

Under a new law, the current production-sharing agreements will be replaced by a flat fee.

The Ecuadorean state will own 100% of the oil and gas produced.

Foreign oil firms in Ecuador, which produces an average of 470,000 barrels per day, are currently responsible for 44% of output.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-10772445

Once again the critics claim any plan other than the most corrupt, exploitive plans which benefit only the companies, stock investors, and bribed officials will fail miserably. Ya ha ha ha ha ha.

Great news.