Venezuela OKs 50% tax on oil firms

Venezuela moved Tuesday to take a greater cut of windfall oil profits, approving a 50% tax on foreign oil companies when crude tops $70 a barrel.

The tax rate would rise to 60% when the average monthly price for crude exceeds $100, according to the bill approved by the National Assembly.

Revenue from the tax could reach $9 billion annually, Oil Minister Rafael Ramirez said.

“That’s why, for the executive branch, it is urgent to create this law,” Ramirez said.

The bill would let President Hugo Chavez extend state control over foreign oil companies in Venezuela -- home to the Western Hemisphere’s largest petroleum deposits -- as he steers the nation into what he calls “21st century socialism.”