"Ecuador pays $112 million award to Chevron - central bank", 23 Jul 2016

Ecuador has paid $112 million to energy company Chevron Corp over a four-decade-old contract dispute, even though it remains in disagreement, the head of the central bank has said. A Hague arbitration court awarded the U.S. company $96 million in 2011 in a dispute stemming from a 1973 deal that called for Texaco, later acquired by Chevron, to develop fields in exchange for selling oil to Ecuador at below-market rates. Various appeals by Ecuador against the ruling failed...[T]hat amount represented the award plus interest. "We don't agree with how these international mechanisms work ... however, we are respectful and we fulfill our international obligations," Martinez added. The payment comes as leftist President Rafael Correa's government faces a cash crunch due to tumbling crude revenues in the Andean oil producer that is OPEC's smallest member...