Ecuador's economy minister quits- ministry sources

These guys should all resign. Their takeover of Occidental's oil fields amounts to simple theft, same as that perpetrated by North Korea or any other rogue nation. I'm glad to hear that this theivery isn't working out so well for them.

Economy Minister Armando Rodas resigned after disagreements with President Alfredo Palacio over the country's ...Rodas was the country's fourth economy minister since Palacio came to power on April of last year after his predecessor Lucio Gutierrez was toppled by popular turmoil. Rodas was the author of a bill to create a special trust fund for revenues from the oil fields once operated by U.S.-based Occidental Petroleum Corp. (OXY.N: Quote, Profile, Research).

The fund, which Ecuador's Congress is debating, would use the cash to invest in the country's weakening energy sector. The ministry expects the country to receive up to $1.3 billion every year from the sale of crude extracted from Occidental's former fields.

Ecuador, one of South America's largest oil producers, terminated its contract Occidental and took over the company's fields in May after a long-running legal dispute.

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