Ramirez, speaking to reporters at a conference in Edmonton, added that OPEC-member Venezuela was sending to China crude oil that U.S. oil giant Exxon Mobil did not want for its Chalmette, Louisiana, refinery.
EDMONTON, Alberta (Reuters) - Venezuela plans to introduce a new tax on oil companies to help pay for environmental damage and to compensate the Venezuelan people, oil minister Rafael Ramirez said on Tuesday.
Ramirez, speaking to reporters at a conference in Edmonton, added that OPEC-member Venezuela was sending to China crude oil that U.S. oil giant Exxon Mobil did not want for its Chalmette, Louisiana, refinery.
Venezuela has been in a dispute Exxon Mobil over the country's nationalization of a multibillion dollar project in the Orinoco last year.
Exxon Mobil won court rulings freezing some $12 billion in Venezuelan overseas oil assets in a move to secure compensation for the nationalized project, and Venezuela responded by suspending sales to the top U.S. oil company.
!ADVERTISEMENT!(Reporting by Scott Haggett; Editing by Marguerita Choy)
