Occidental Petroleum Corp., the fourth-largest oil producer in the U.S., said it will take a $306 million after-tax charge after Ecuador’s government seized the company’s oil fields there.

After the seizure, the Los Angeles-based company classified its operations in Ecuador as “discontinued.”

Ecuador canceled Occidental’s rights to the field, called Block 15, then seized the field, the compnay said. The field accounted for about 7 percent of the company’s total output.

Production gains in Libya will make up for the loss of about 30,000 barrels of oil a daily Block 15 was producing, said Fadel Gheit, an analyst at Oppenheimer & Co. in New York. High energy prices also will soften the blow, he said.

The net year-to-date charge will cut first-quarter earnings to $2.67 a share, down from previously estimated $2.83 a share, the company said. It also added that it expects second quarter earnings from continuing operations to be between $2.70 and $2.80 per share.

Ecuador began seizing Occidental’s oil fields in the country in May when it terminated the company’s operating contract after accusing Occidental of illegally transferring oil assets without authorization. Ecuador is South America’s fifth-largest oil producer. The company said it has filed an arbitration claim against Ecuador.