On 28 January 2013, the government announced that it plans to reduce levies on the oil industry by changing rules on the so-called windfall tax that will now only be triggered when crude and its derivatives trade above USD 80 a barrel, instead of USD 70 a barrel. The purpose of this change is to channel foreign currency from a domestic development fund to the Venezuelan Central Bank in order to provide currency for additional imports.
 
The windfall oil price tax establishes a special contribution which is payable by companies exporting certain hydrocarbons including liquid hydrocarbons, both natural and upgraded, and their derivatives. The tax revenues are than collected in a domestic development fund.
 
The measure was effective on 20 February 2013 with the publication of the according law in the Official Gazette.