 Before this action, some private oil companies were contributing as little as 18% of their revenues to the public sector while earning profits of as much as 250% per year on their investments.During his tenure, the Minister of Energy and Mines, Iván Rodríguez, decreed the expiration (caducidad) of the contract with the Occidental Petroleum Co., which was producing 100,000 barrels per day.The expiration was due to repeated violations of the contract and the Hydrocarbons Law.