Ecuador make oil bid threat

Ecuador will open bidding for a major oil project in a jungle nature reserve next June if the poor Andean country does not raise international funding to abandon the proposal, the oil minister says.

The government is seeking a minimum of €231m a year from the international community for 10 years not to drill in the Ishpingo-Tiputini-Tambococha fields in Yasuni National Park, Ecuador’s north-eastern jungle.