China's Andes Petroleum and Spain's Repsol agreed with Ecuador to switch to a service contract from a production sharing deal, as the leftist government sought to boost control over the key sector. The new service agreement meant that Andes Petroleum and Repsol would hand over to the state the oil it extracted in exchange for a fee instead of keeping part of the oil as earlier.

Ecuador struck a similar deal with Brazil's Petrobras on August 7, but reports noted that Brazil's state-run oil company was still considering whether it will accept the new contract. China's National Petroleum Corporation senior vice-president Wang Shali also told reporters that the company would boost investment in Ecuador, which was South America’s fifth biggest producer1.

• 1. “Repsol, China’s Andes agree to new Ecuador oil deals,” Reuters, August 9, 2008, at http://asianenergy.blogspot.com/2008/08/repsol-chinas-andes-agree-to-new...