ECUADOR ADOPTS AUSTERITY MEASURES AFTER QUAKE

  OPEC member Ecuador adopted austerity
  measures to conserve fuel after oil production was paralyzed by
  a strong earthquake.
      Energy and Mines Minister Javier Espinosa announced on
  television the country would cut domestic fuel sales by 30 pct.
  A ministry statement had earlier announced indefinite
  suspension of crude oil exports, declaring force majeure.
      Deputy Energy Minister Fernando Santos Alvite told a
  television interviewer that it could possibly take more than a
  month to repair Ecuador's main pipeline linking Amazon basin
  oil fields to the Pacific Ocean coast.
      The quake on Thursday, which registered six on the 12-point
  Mercalli scale, killed at least six people and was centred near
  the Reventador volcano about 90 km (50 miles) east of Quito.
      Ecuador had recently been pumping 260,000 barrels per day.
      The government's austerity measures ban the sale of
  aviation fuel to foreign airliners on international routes and
  no fuel will be available for ships owned by foreign lines.
      Ecuador also banned the sale of petrol on weekends and
  holidays and limited sales on weekdays, an Energy and Mines
  Ministry communique said.
  

