NEW YORK (Associated Press) - Venezuelan legislators have begun drafting a new law that would tax foreign oil companies' windfall profits from rising crude prices, a lawmaker said Wednesday.

Iroshima Bravo told Dow Jones Newswires that "the tax will be anywhere between 20 and 25 percent of what we deem sudden gains" from fluctuations in world oil prices.

"We're studying various examples of the tax, and this should be ready soon," said Bravo, who belongs to a committee considering the measure in the National Assembly.

With light, sweet crude surpassing $110 per barrel for the first time on Wednesday before settling slightly lower, Bravo said the move is intended to help Venezuela "take advantage of the current atmosphere of rising oil prices."

Venezuela's heavy, sulfur-laden crude reached a record $94 a barrel last week.

President Chavez recently urged the government to draft a proposal for the tax. Details of how it would be calculated remain unclear.

The socialist president could approve the new tax by decree if he wishes, under fast-track powers that the solidly pro-Chavez National Assembly granted to him last year. Those powers expire in July.

Since taking office in 1999, Chavez has moved to increase state control over the oil industry while letting foreign companies stay on as minority partners in fields they used to manage under contract.

In 2005, Chavez raised royalty rates from to 30 percent from 16.6 percent on foreign firms operating projects in the lucrative Orinoco River region, and last year he nationalized all privately run heavy oil projects there.

Companies operating in Venezuela include U.S.-based Chevron Corp., France's Total, Britain's BP PLC and others.