QUITO, Ecuador—President Rafael Correa says Ecuador wants to buy out private oil companies unwilling to negotiate new deals with his government.
Correa has asked companies now suing over an October decree that slashed their share of windfall oil profits to 1 percent to drop their lawsuits.
Ecuador on Friday offered to boost those companies' share of soaring windfall profits to 30 percent. If companies aren't happy with that offer, Correa says his government will buy their assets at "a fair price."
France's Perenco Gabon SA, U.S.-based Murphy Oil Corporation and ConocoPhillips-subsidiary Burlington Resources are among those to file claims against Ecuador.
Windfall profits are unexpected earnings on oil sold for more than the price fixed in a company's contract.
