(Bloomberg) Three of the world’s top commodity trading houses used state oil companies from China, Thailand, Oman and Uruguay as fronts in their corrupt deals with Ecuador, a federal jury in Brooklyn, New York has heard.Most Read from BloombergBlinken’s Return From Davos Was Delayed After Plane Broke DownApple to Sell Watches Without Oxygen Feature After Legal SetbackPakistan’s Army Strikes Back at Iran as Both Sides Urge CalmDimon Says China Risk-Reward Equation Has ‘Changed Dramatically’Sin
Newly elected president Daniel Noboa will manage the end of oil extraction amidst dueling political and security crises. Will Ecuador be able to build a post-oil economy?
Ecuador's energy minister said Wednesday that a vote to halt drilling in an Amazon oil block set a "terrible precedent" and it would be a long and complex task to dismantle the installation.However, Energy Minister Fernando Santos described the decision to halt drilling as "a very serious blow to Ecuador's dollarized economy, which depends on crude oil, its main export."
Petroecuador CEO Ramon Correa, said by attracting private investment, output at Campo Amistad could be raised from the current 21mn ft3/day to 73mn ft3/d.
Ecuadorians voted on Sunday to end oil drilling in a protected area of the Amazon, with about 60 percent of voters rejecting a referendum on oil exploration in Block 43, which is part of the Yasuni National Park. As of early Monday, more than 90 percent of the votes had been counted and about 6…