Venezuela to boost oil shipments to China
AP
CARACAS
Petroleumworld.com 02 09 06
Venezuela will soon ship 700,000 barrels of oil a day to China,
up from 160,000 barrels a day, a spokesman for the state-run oil
company said Wednesday.
Representatives
of Venezuela's state oil company Petroleos de Venezuela SA, or
PDVSA, signed a one-year fuel-supply contract with China National
Petroleum Corp. in November as the South American country moves
to diversify its export market away from the United States.
Venezuela
currently supplies China National Petroleum, China's largest oil
company, with 100,000 barrels of crude a day and 60,000 barrels
of fuel oil a day.
The spokesman, Rodolfo Cardon, did not say when shipments to China
would be increased.
Venezuelan
President Hugo Chavez has said he would like to see total oil
exports to China reach 300,000 barrels a day by the end of 2006.
Venezuela,
the world's fifth-largest oil exporter, has sought to reduce its
dependence on the United States as the leading buyer of its oil
and expand into new markets, particularly in Asia.
Venezuela
also plans to expand its fleet of oil tankers wants to build pipelines
with access to the Pacific Ocean so that it can ship more oil
and gas to Asian countries.
AP
02/08/06
Copyright
© 2006 AP. All rights reserved
