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China unlikely to cut Venezuela's US oil supplies
(AP)
Updated: 2005-09-21 07:27
China's increased interest in the Venezuelan oil industry is unlikely to have
any effect on U.S. supplies, a top State Department official said Tuesday.
China, the world's second largest petroleum consumer, has stepped up
investment throughout Latin America, including increased buying of Venezuela's
oil.
Charles Shapiro, a senior Western Hemisphere specialist at the State
Department, told a Senate panel looking at China's role in Latin America that it
would be economically painful for Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez to make good
on a reported threat to cut off oil shipments to the United States.
Shapiro, a former U.S. ambassador to Venezuela, said Chinese imports
represent only a fraction of the 1.4 million barrels of oil the United States
buys daily from Venezuela.
The export of Venezuelan oil to the United States, he said, is "a
market-driven decision that is in the interests of both the seller and, like any
market-driven decision, it's in the interest of the buyer."
Viewed as a business decision, the United States has several advantages over
China in Venezuela's eyes, Shapiro said. It takes much longer for the fuel to
reach China: Chinese ports are three weeks from Venezuela, he said, while U.S.
ports are four days away.
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