Ecuador signs deals to raise oil output

QUITO, Oct 06 (Xinhua): Ecuadorian authorities signed investment contracts worth about 1.6 billion US dollars on Friday with private companies to develop six oil fields in the country's northeastern provinces, local newspaper El Comercio reported.

Ecuadorian President Lenin Moreno was present at the signing ceremony held in the coastal city of Guayaquil.

With four other contracts signed in February, the country has "picked up investments of more than 2.3 billion US dollars in the petroleum sector" this year, Moreno said.

According to the president, the country produces some 500,000 barrels of crude oil daily and with the new investment, the output will increase by about six per cent in the next 15 years.