14-02-09 Ecuador's president is ordering his government to collect taxes from French and Spanish oil companies that he says failed to pay duties on windfall oil income.
President Rafael Correa didn't say how much Paris-based Perenco and Madrid-based Repsol-YPF owed or what would happen if they failed to pay, but noted he wouldn't let any international body interfere with collection.

A 2007 decree requires foreign oil companies to pay his government 99 % of the unexpected income they earned from record oil prices.
Oil analyst Luis Calero says the collection procedure could give companies 48 hours to pay or have assets seized.