ECUADORIAN GOVT NATIONALISES US OIL COMPANY  http://www.namnewsnetwork.org/v2/read.php?id=160539

Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa described as historic the nationalization of the Amistad oilfield, after intense negotiations with the U.S. Noble Energy Company, whose affiliate, the Energy Development Corp., was the operator.The Ecuadorian government finalized the 74 million USD deal for the U.S. company to leave the country, after no agreement was reached under the conditions of a new hydrocarbon law enforced by the Ecuadorian government late last year.

With the new law, oil contracts become service contracts, and the government pays a fixed fee for each barrel of oil extracted, taking into consideration operating expenses and a reasonable margin of profits.EDC extracted gas in the Gulf of Guayaquil, and that gas was used by the Machala Power Plant to generate electricity.Now both of those facilities will be controlled by the state oil company, Petroecuador, and the Electricity Corporation of Ecuador (Celec)The payment to the U.S. company was made as recognition of the work done by the company after the termination of its contract last November.