New tax: Venezuela to boost its income
Venezuela to tax oil revenues
Venezuela is set to collect a windfall oil tax from all private companies operating in the country in an effort to boost government incomes.
President Hugo Chavez announced last week that the new tax will take 50% of oil revenues above $70 per barrel and 60% of revenues above $100 per barrel.
A group of joint ventures between PDVSA and private operators that do not directly export oil originally appeared exempt from the tax, which only applies to exported barrels.
"All the hydrocarbons operators in this country are subject to this extraordinary tax," Oil Minister Rafael Ramirez told Reuters.
He said the tax would only apply to exports in order to avoid creating losses on oil consumed within Venezuela, where heavy fuel subsidies leave the price of gasoline at around $0.12 per gallon.
But a group of joint ventures between PDVSA and companies such as Shell that produce around 300,000 barrels per day will have to pay the tax because they export indirectly via PDVSA, Ramirez said.
The tax will also hit four multibillion-dollar heavy crude upgraders that Venezuela took over last year.