Ecuador to rejoin OPEC
next month
Ecuador will rejoin the
Organization of the
Petroleum Exporting
Countries (OPEC) at the
cartel's next meeting in
November, Ecuadorian
President Rafael Correa
said Saturday.
"Ecuador is going to be
taking a great step next
month" to return to
OPEC, Correa said in his
weekly radio program.
Ecuador, which produces
530,000 barrels of oil
per day, is the fifth
largest producer in
South America.
The Andean country left
OPEC in 1992. Its then
Energy Minister Andres
Barreiro Vivas said
Ecuador was forced to
leave the group because
of the annual membership
fee of 2 million U.S.
dollars and the cartel's
refusal to raise
Ecuador's production
quota.
Hugo Chavez, president
of Venezuela, the only
Latin American member of
OPEC, has backed
Ecuador's bid to rejoin
the group. The two
countries have moved to
increase energy
cooperation.
After Correa was elected
in November, 2006, he
said his country would
apply to rejoin OPEC.
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