Corrosion inhibitors can behave as catholic inhibitors when they mainly suppress the cathodic reaction. These can be anodic inhibitors when they mainly suppress the anodic reaction. When interact with both these may behave as mixed inhibitors. A combination of these behaviors may allow an ordered corrosion process which results in the formation of a protective corrosion film. In this paper electrochemical characterization of a phosphate ester based inhibitor which protects from oxygen corrosion is discussed. Potentiodynamic polarization is used to determine Tafel slopes for the anodic and cathodic processes to determine the inhibitor behavior. A system of carbon steel in 3.5% NaCl /3% O2 in 97 % CO2 with and without an inhibitor is defined and tested. Possible electrochemical mechanisms of this system will be discussed.Key words: Oxygen Corrosion Corrosion Inhibitors Potentiodynamic polarization.