New oil production spared tough Venezuela tax

CARACAS,  (Reuters) – Joint ventures between  private firms and Venezuela’s state oil company PDVSA will not  pay a windfall tax on new output until they have recovered  their investments, the oil minister said yesterday.

A hike in the OPEC member’s windfall oil tax was unveiled  by President Hugo Chavez on Thursday.

Oil Minister Rafael Ramirez told Reuters in an interview  that joint ventures committed to boosting output from fields in