Ecuador's president has threatened to expel foreign oil firms that launch legal challenges against his government.

Facing billions of dollars worth of legal claims for failure to complete contracts, Rafael Correa on Saturday issued a blunt warning to the firms.

"The policy is going to be: gentlemen if you bring legal cases against us, very well, but you will get out of the country," he said during a television and radio address.

Ecuador faces claims totalling around $US13 billion ($A16.26 billion) before the World Bank's International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID).

Many of the claims come from foreign businesses, notably France's Perenco and from the United States, Occidental Petroleum and Burlington.

"I am not going to accept that foreigners come to this country to make claims against us while robbing us of our natural resources," Correa said.

Earlier in June Ecuador's Congress called on the government to pull out of the ICSID.

WASHINGTON AFP