Venezuela, home to one of the world's biggest oil deposits, will add a new oil tax in response to crude's rise above $100 a barrel.

President Hugo Chavez said the government has already drafted a bill to pass the new windfall, or "sudden gains" tax. The rate the government will charge is still under discussion, the president said today in comments broadcast by state television.

Foreign oil companies in Venezuela "are earning money that they haven't counted on in any calculation," Chavez said. "It's not the product of any extraordinary effort."

In 2006 and 2007 Chavez threw out oil contracts and forced companies including Chevron Corp. and Total SA to accept minority stakes in all oil projects. The new joint ventures are still restarting their drilling their programs and billing systems, according to company securities filings.

"Every time the companies think they've gone over a hurdle, there's another one," Pietro Pitts, founder of the Caracas-based trade magazine Latin Petroleum, said about the tax, noting that similar measures have been imposed in other oil-producing areas.

Contract and tax changes for oil companies have come regularly in Venezuela since 2003, when Chavez asserted control over the state oil company following a management-led strike that sought to overthrow his government. That period has also been one of steadily rising oil prices, making the changes more tolerable for the companies, Pitts said.

Rate Increases

Venezuela has already increased income tax rates, royalties and extraction taxes. The country also has a clause in each joint venture agreement guaranteeing that if taxes and royalties don't add up to at least 50 percent of every barrel, companies must pay up the difference.

Four joint ventures producing tar-like oil in the Faja del Orinoco region, which has more than a trillion barrels of oil in the ground, had their income tax rates boosted to 50 percent from 34 percent in 2005 while companies, including Pride International Inc. and Exxon Mobil Corp., have been subjected to customs and tax law enforcement actions.

The tax will apply equally to private companies and state company Petroleos de Venezuela SA, Energy and Oil Minister Rafael Ramirez said Feb. 19. The state oil company gave $42.3 billion to the government and to social programs last year, Caracas newspaper El Universal reported March 15, citing the company's annual report.