Fitch: Oil shutdown may affect Ecuador

Recent production interruptions and sabotage related to protests in Ecuador's oil-producing Amazon provinces have raised concern about their impact on government revenues and export receipts, Fitch Ratings said.

Protests and highway blocks have forced the state-owned oil company and private producers to cut output sharply. The government has called a state of emergency and has declared force majeure for certain oil export contracts.

According to Morgan C. Harting, senior director-sovereigns, Fitch Ratings, "if oil production is not restored quickly and near-term public and external financing needs are not secured, the credit implications for the sovereign will be negative."

Fitch currently maintains a B- rating with a stable outlook on Ecuador's long-term foreign currency debt.

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