Ecuador says to rejoin OPEC at cartel's next meet

QUITO, Oct 8 (Reuters) Ecuador plans to officially rejoin OPEC at the cartel's next meeting, Ecuador's Oil Minister Galo Chiriboga said today.

Ecuador, which is South America's No. 5 oil producer with an average crude output of around 530,000 barrels per day or bpd, left the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries in 1992.

The US Energy Information Administration says Ecuador was the 11th biggest foreign oil supplier to the United States, shipping an average 189,000 bpd during the first seven months of this year.

REUTERS SI RK2245