Venezuela nets $4.3b in windfall oil profit tax
Friday, 29 August 2008
CARACAS, Aug 28 (AFP): Venezuela has raked in 4.3 billion dollars from a tax on windfall oil profits it started collecting from state-owned Petroleos de Venezuela in mid-April, President Hugo Chavez said yesterday.
"Up to now we have obtained 4.3 billion dollars," President Hugo Chavez told his ministers during a publicly broadcast cabinet meeting.
Of that, 800 million dollars has already been used by the Chavez administration, while 3.56 billion dollars have been placed in a fund, Chavez said, without elaborating further Venezuela's legislature im mid-April approved a "mandatory contribution" on windfall oil profits, as oil prices surged to record levels worldwide.
The measure is levied on profits when oil prices rise above 70 dollars a barrel, officials said, beginning at 50 per cent and increasing to 60 per cent when prices top 100 dollars a barrel, using the barrel of Brent crude as a reference price.
Venezuelan crude closed Friday at 108.63 dollars a barrel. Its average price so far this year has been 103.74.
Venezuela's oil exports totalled 48.47 billion dollars in the first half of this year, a figure 78 per cent higher than for the same period in 2007, central bank figures released Wednesday showed.
Venezuela says it pumps 3.3 million barrels of oil per day, of which 2.7 million dollars are sold as exports.
The International Energy Agency disputes those figures, estimating that overall output is a lower 2.5 million barrels per day.
"Up to now we have obtained 4.3 billion dollars," President Hugo Chavez told his ministers during a publicly broadcast cabinet meeting.
Of that, 800 million dollars has already been used by the Chavez administration, while 3.56 billion dollars have been placed in a fund, Chavez said, without elaborating further Venezuela's legislature im mid-April approved a "mandatory contribution" on windfall oil profits, as oil prices surged to record levels worldwide.
The measure is levied on profits when oil prices rise above 70 dollars a barrel, officials said, beginning at 50 per cent and increasing to 60 per cent when prices top 100 dollars a barrel, using the barrel of Brent crude as a reference price.
Venezuelan crude closed Friday at 108.63 dollars a barrel. Its average price so far this year has been 103.74.
Venezuela's oil exports totalled 48.47 billion dollars in the first half of this year, a figure 78 per cent higher than for the same period in 2007, central bank figures released Wednesday showed.
Venezuela says it pumps 3.3 million barrels of oil per day, of which 2.7 million dollars are sold as exports.
The International Energy Agency disputes those figures, estimating that overall output is a lower 2.5 million barrels per day.