NewsI sthis a goos thing or bad ?
Globe/DJ say Ivanhoe, Petroamazonas end contract
2014-08-26 05:51 ET - In the News
The Globe and Mail reports in its Tuesday edition that Ecuador's Petroamazonas and Ivanhoe Energy are mutually terminating a contract signed at Block 20, located in the Amazon basin. A Dow Jones dispatch to The Globe reports that Ecuador's minister of non-renewable natural resources, Pedro Merizalde, said Monday the government is in talks with China National Petroleum to develop the block. Mr. Merizalde said: "They are interested. According to the current law we can negotiate directly. ... There haven't been any negotiations yet, we've only had talks." The government plans to start formal negotiations soon. In 2008, Ecuador and Ivanhoe signed a 30-year service contract to develop the block. The contract included construction of a plant to upgrade the heavy oil using HTL technology. The cost of the plant was expected to be between $450-million and $500-million. On Monday Ivanhoe said it has technical information showing the need for additional exploration work in the block, which is not allowed under the contract with Ecuador. The minister did not rule out that Ivanhoe may be interested in a joint venture with CNPC, "but that decision is exclusively from Ivanhoe."