Chavez to boost oil sales to China

BEIJING (AP) — Venezuela plans to export 500,000 barrels of oil a day to China within five years, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said yesterday.

Mr. Chavez arrived in Beijing earlier in the day at the start of a trip aimed at forging stronger energy ties between the two countries. He plans to sign agreements to boost China’s investment in oil-rich Venezuela with joint projects in petroleum, telecommunications, farming and railways.

He also proposed an ambitious target plan under which Venezuela — the world’s No. 5 oil exporter — will almost quadruple sales to China, which wants access to Latin American energy supplies to fuel its booming economy.

“Within five years, we’ll arrive at half a million barrels [a day] to China. We are currently exporting close to 150,000 barrels [a day], and next year, we will double that,” Mr. Chavez said.

“The oil issue is of utmost importance, because we are diversifying the petroleum business. We are moving toward a new petroleum model,” said Mr. Chavez, speaking on Venezuelan state television from China. “It’s one step more in a strategic alliance.”

The Chinese Foreign Ministry said Mr. Chavez was scheduled to meet with President Hu Jintao today, and with China’s No. 2 leader Wu Bangguo and Prime Minister Wen Jiabao tomorrow.

The left-leaning Mr. Chavez has strengthened ties with Beijing since taking office in 1999. He said last week that he will buy Chinese-made oil tankers and seal an oil-exploration deal.

“We’re going to sign a series of agreements for another leap in energy cooperation,” Mr. Chavez said after arriving in Beijing.

The United States is the biggest buyer of Venezuelan crude, but Mr. Chavez’s government has sought to sell more to other countries.

The Venezuelan president said his government would create joint ventures with two Chinese state-owned oil companies to produce and export crude from Venezuela’s petroleum-rich Orinoco River basin as part of a larger energy-cooperation plan.

He said agreements would be signed today with China National Petroleum Corp. and China Petroleum and Chemical Corp.

Mr. Chavez said Venezuela’s growing relations with China are part of his government’s efforts to create a “multipolar” world to counter what he regards as U.S. hegemony. He accuses the U.S. of bullying countries like Venezuela to keep them from developing military technology.