Ivanhoe Energy Inc. provided clarification regarding certain statements contained in a news article published by El Comercio in Ecuador earlier this week, and subsequently by the Wall Street Journal, regarding Ivanhoe's Specific Services Contract on Block 20, which contains the Pungarayacu oil field.
As the company has previously stated, Ivanhoe Energy fully intends to be part of a consortium that will develop Block 20.
Additionally, Ivanhoe and the Ecuadorian Government have agreed to a process to mutually terminate the Specific Services Contract under which Ivanhoe has been operating since 2008 as a step towards entering into a new Service Contract with a consortium consisting of Ivanhoe and one of the world's largest national oil companies (NOC), which has experience working in Ecuador.
The NOC recently advised Ivanhoe that some of its international projects, including the Block 20 project, are currently under review. Ivanhoe is waiting for the NOC to complete its review before moving forward to finalize the joint-venture agreement. Ivanhoe anticipates that this review will continue until the end of the third quarter of 2014.
