Ecuador wraps up talks on new oil contracts

QUITO (Reuters) - Ecuador has concluded negotiations with foreign oil companies to increase state control of their operations and the new contracts will go to President Rafael Correa for ratification, a top government negotiator told Reuters on Saturday.

Jose Sanchez, chief of the state negotiating team, said talks had finished with Spain's Repsol YPF (REP.MC: Quote, Profile, Research), Brazil's Petrobras (PETR4.SA: Quote, Profile, Research) and France's Perenco. On Friday deals were reached with Andes Petroleum (0857.HK: Quote, Profile, Research) and PetroOriental, both owned by Chinese companies.

"We've completed the negotiations and turned over the results to the authorities to see if we reach a final agreement," Sanchez said.

Correa is on an aggressive drive to rework deals in key sectors such as oil, telecommunications and mining.

Ecuador, the fifth largest oil producer in Latin America with output of 500,000 barrels a day, is following other Latin American countries such as Argentina, Venezuela, Chile and Bolivia that have raised taxes and royalties on miners and oil companies, or nationalized their national resources sectors.

Private miners and oil companies have benefited from high prices in recent years and states have moved to receive more of the windfall profit. Oil prices have risen to records of more than $106 per barrel.

Sanchez declined to give details of the new contracts but the government has said that the talks were aimed at increasing its stakes in the Ecuador operations of foreign oil companies and obtaining guarantees on new investment.

In exchange, the company's concessions were to be lengthened and taxes reduced.

Oil Minister Galo Chiriboga told Reuters that Correa was the person who would ratify the agreements.