By Mercedes Alvaro 
 

QUITO--Russia's state-controlled oil company Rosneft is interested in investing in Ecuador's oil sector, Ecuador's Hydrocarbons Minister Pedro Merizalde said Tuesday.

In a statement, Mr. Merizalde said Rosneft s expressed interested in using enhanced recovery techniques on mature oil fields in the Ecuadorean Amazon.

According to Mr. Merizalde, who met Monday in Moscow with the First Vice President of Rosneft, Eric Liron, a committee from the Russian company visited Ecuador last week and are reviewing technical and economic information on several projects.

Currently, about 90% of the 550,000 barrels per day of Ecuador's oil production comes from mature oil fields.

Mr. Merizalde added that Ecuador is also interested in attracting Russian investment for natural gas projects and wants to receive new technology from Rosneft.

Last year Ecuador and Russia signed a memorandum of understanding to explore investments in the Andean country's hydrocarbons sector.

Mr. Merizalde said the president of the oil giant plans to visit Ecuador in the coming weeks to meet with President Rafael Correa.

Write to Mercedes Alvaro at mercedes.alvaro@wsj.com

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