Venezuela Tuesday officially increased from 34 to 50 percent the oil income tax for four projects operating at the Orinoco oil belt, as part of a government plan to enlarge oil revenues.

President Hugo Chávez -who claims he intends to implement his so-called 21st Century socialism- has intensified state control on foreign oil firms and accuses them of stealing the riches of the world's fifth oil exporter, Reuters reported.
 
"Taxpayers involved in the exploitation of hydrocarbons and related activities, such as refining and transportation, or the procurement or acquisition of hydrocarbons and by-products for exploitation will be levied a proportional rate of 50 percent," read the resolution published in the Official Gazette.
 
Companies operating at the Orinoco oil belt are pumping some 620,000 bpd of extra-heavy crude oil that is subsequently transformed into synthetic crude for processing in traditional refineries.

The firms affected by the move include US companies Chevron, Exxon Mobil and ConocoPhillips, British BP, French Total and Norwegian Statoil, which are partners of Venezuelan state-run oil holding Pdvsa.

The Venezuelan legislature -fully controlled by pro-government parties- okayed this reform in August. While the effective date was not disclosed, parliamentarians claimed that the new legislation would be in force as of FY2007.

This year Venezuela also levied a new tax on oil extraction that increased royalties to 33.3 percent.