Ecuador gives oil companies until March 2010 to sign new contracts

Quito: Oil companies operating in Ecuador have until March to sign new contracts or the government will "change the rules of the game" to give the state more control over the sector, President Rafael Correa said on Saturday.

The socialist leader was first elected in 2006 on promises of helping the poor and taking a tough stance with international investors who he accuses of pillaging the country's wealth.

Correa's rhetoric has toughened as the negotiation of contracts approaches. But he apparently does not want to go so far as to choke off the private investment that his Opec-member country needs to bolster its key oil sector.

Forced to change

"Either they sign the new contracts by March or we are going to change the rules of the game and the relationship between the companies and the state," Correa said during a tele-vised town hall meeting.

"I will meet with the companies and we are going to speak plainly. They will invest or leave the country," he said.

Private firms — such as Spain's Repsol, Brazil's Petrobras and Italy's ENI — are expected to produce 195,342 barrels of oil per day next year, down from 201,369 barrels per day in 2009.