Venezuela nets $4.3 bn in windfall oil profit tax

Venezuela has raked in $4.3 billion from a tax on windfall oil profits it started collecting from state-owned Petroleos de Venezuela in mid-April, President Hugo Chavez said. “Up to now we have obtained $4.3 billion,” President Hugo Chavez told his ministers during a publicly broadcast cabinet meeting. Of that, $800 million has already been used by the Chavez administration, while $3.56 billion 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 per barrel, officials said, beginning at 50 per cent and increasing to 60 per cent when prices top $100 per barrel, using the barrel of Brent crude as a reference price.