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

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 discovered evidence the company had reported inaccurate information in an electronic database exporters use to declare international exports from the U.S., the U.S. attorney's office for the southern district of Texas said in a press release.

PetroChina International America "misclassified more than $32 million of ultra-low-sulfur diesel fuel as mineral oil mix for certain export transactions to Mexico that took place in 2019 and 2020," the office said.

The company has fully cooperated with the investigation into the violations and has 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)