Chiriboga Takes Over At Petroecuador

Ecuador’s former government and labor minister, Galo Chiriboga, has taken over at state-controlled oil company Petroecuador, whose previous president – Fernando González – resigned in June. The company’s vice-president, Walter Lopez, has been acting president since then. One of Chiriboga’s first tasks will be to oversee the new attempt to auction 17.5 million barrels of heavy crude from the fields taken back by the government from US oil firm Occidental Petroleum in May. An attempt to auction the oil last month collapsed after several foreign state-run oil companies failed to bid.