Ecuador To Auction Ex-Oxy Assets

Following the seizure of Occidental Petroleum’s (Oxy) assets in Ecuador last week, the government has said it is considering auctioning off the rights to exploit the oil fields previously run by the US oil company. A government spokesman said Ecuador was keen for state-run oil companies in the region such as Chile’s Enap to bid for the rights. The oil fields in Block 15, which were seized from Oxy by the government, are currently under the control of state-owned oil company Petroecuador. However, the government says that the company does not have the technology or the resources to run the oil production in the fields.