Venezuela briefly shuts Total, ENI offices on taxes

CARACAS, Venezuela, Mar 16 (Reuters) Venezuelan tax authorities have closed the administrative offices of French oil company Total and Italian operator ENI for 48 hours due to book-keeping irregularities, an official said today.

Venezuela, the world's No. 5 oil exporter, has briefly shut the offices of scores of foreign and local firms as part of a broad crackdown on tax irregularities.

The administrative closures usually do not affect production facilities.

REUTERS OM KP2150