QUITO- Ecuador's state oil company Petroecuador has barred Vitol Inc from its list of suppliers and customers after the Swiss trading firm's U.S. subsidiary admitted guilt to U.S. charges of bribing officials in Latin America to win lucrative contracts.
Vitol's U.S. subsidiary last week agreed to pay $164 million in fines and improve internal reporting and compliance functions after U.S. prosecutors said the firm bribed officials in Brazil, Mexico and Ecuador.
"This company will no longer be invited to, nor will it be able to participate in international tenders for the purchase and sale of hydrocarbons," Petroecuador said in a statement on Sunday.
Vitol admitted to paying $2 million in bribes in Ecuador and Mexico, which it said went to officials in those countries to secure and retain oil business.
The most recent deal between Petroecuador and Vitol was an April tender for the export of fuel oil, which ended in October.
Vitol, run out of London, is the world's largest independent oil trader, trading some 8 million barrels of oil a day.
(Reporting by Alexandra Valencia Writing by Luc Cohen, editing by Louise Heavens) ((luc.cohen@thomsonreuters.com; +58 424 133 7696; Reuters Messaging: Twitter: @cohenluc))
