Chavez says has enough oil for all customers

 © AP
2008-09-25 10:40:28 -  BEIJING (AP) - Venezuela's plans to triple oil shipments to China over the next several years will not mean a cut in sales to the United States and other countries, President Hugo Chavez said Thursday.  Speaking at the end of a three-day visit to the Chinese capital where he signed deals for increased energy cooperation and to buy military jets, Chavez said Venezuela had enough capacity to meet everyone's needs.  «Venezuela is one of the few countries whose oil reserves allow them to take up enormous commitments around the world,» Chavez told a news conference before flying to Moscow.
«This is not going to affect supplies to any other country,» he said, when asked if sales to the United States would fall because of a planned increased in shipments to China.  Chavez said oil exports to China could soar to 1 million barrels a day by 2012, up from 330,000 per day now. The two sides also plan to build four oil tankers and three oil refineries in China capable of processing Venezuela's heavy, sulfur-laden crude.  Venezuela regards China as a key link in its strategy of diversifying oil sales away from the U.S., which still buys about half of Venezuela's oil despite years of political tensions. Other plans for cooperation with China call for building a refinery in Venezuela and launching a joint oil-development project in the crude-rich Orinoco River belt. China also plans to build oil tankers for Venezuela.
Chavez met Chinese President Hu Jintao and other officials, although details of their discussions were not immediately available. The two leaders oversaw the signing of cooperation agreements in areas ranging from sports to legal matters.  He confirmed that Venezuela would buy military training jets from China, but did not give details. He said they would be delivered next year. He added that pilots may be sent to China for training. Chavez's trip to Moscow will be his second to the Russian capital in two months. On Monday, Russia sent a navy squadron to Venezuela for joint maneuvers, an unprecedented deployment of Russian military power to the Western Hemisphere since the Cold War and an obvious snub to Washington.