Costa Rica Insists on Ratifying China Oil Contract

The government's decision «is clear and definitive: we will tell the Comptroller's Office that we insist on ratifying the contract," said the minister of the presidency, Rodrigo Arias.

The national Comptroller's Office in March said that an agreement signed in late 2008 for the Costa Rican Oil Refinery (RECOPE) to form a joint venture with the China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) was not valid.

The Comptroller's Office — an independent bureau that monitors government actions to make sure they are within the law — said the Costa Rican-Chinese joint venture would violate the RECOPE's legal monopoly on oil refining and distribution.

The project can proceed only if legislators changed the law, the Office said.