PetroChina will pay $14.5 million fine for US export violations, says DOJ

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – PetroChina International America, a unit of PetroChina, has agreed to pay a fine and forfeiture totaling $14.5 million for violations of U.S. export law, the Justice Department said on Tuesday.

Authorities uncovered evidence that the company had reported inaccurate information in an electronic database that exporters use to declare U.S. international exports, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Texas said in a news release.

PetroChina International America “misclassified more than $32 million in ultra-low sulfur diesel fuel as a mineral oil blend for certain export transactions to Mexico that occurred in 2019 and 2020,” the office said.

The company fully cooperated with the investigation into the violations and enhanced its compliance program, the office added.

PetroChina International America did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

(Reporting by Eric Beech and Kanishka Singh; Editing by Richard Chang)