http://groups.google.com/group/soc.culture.indian/browse_frm/thread/40732ac6fc72523a/b28f2caba6ed1c33?hl=en&tvc=1&q=venezuela+chavez#b28f2caba6ed1c33
Wow they are serious !
Venezuela and China boost ties with refinery deal
CARACAS, May 10 (Reuters) - Venezuela and China have agreed to build a
refinery in China to process Venezuelan oil, advancing leftist
President Hugo Chavez's push to boost ties between the OPEC nation and
one of the world's fastest-growing energy consumers.
Chavez, a self-styled revolutionary and harsh critic of Washington,
has increased energy and commercial ties with China to reduce
Venezuela's traditional reliance on energy markets in the United
States.
In a ceremony late on Friday, Venezuelan state oil company PDVSA and
the largest Chinese oil and gas company PetroChina (0857.HK: Quote,
Profile , Research) agreed to build a 400,000 barrel per day refinery
in China's Guandong province.
"Fifteen years ago people said it was impossible to take Venezuelan
oil to China because it was too far and the costs made it impossible,"
Chavez, flanked by Chinese Vice Premier Hui Liangyu, said in a
televised address.
"We've destroyed that deception, which came from Washington."
China's deep pockets and its need to ensure future energy supplies,
along with Chavez's desire to diversify Venezuela's trade away from
the United States, have brought Caracas and Beijing together.
China this year lent $4 billion to Venezuela, which the South American
country will repay in fuel, to create an investment fund for
development projects such as improvement of rural roads and expansion
of fishing.
Chavez has offered unconditional political support to China,
describing widespread protests in Tibet as Washington-backed efforts
to harm the Beijing Olympics.
The two countries also agreed on Friday to advance agricultural
cooperation amid a global food crisis that has sparked riots in poor
countries around the world, a problem Chavez blames on global
capitalism.
"Our friendship has entered a new era," said Hui.
ENERGY TIES
The joint-venture refinery, Venezuela's first such investment in
China, will advance Chavez's goal of shipping to China 1 million
barrels per day of oil by around 2011, or 13 percent of current
Chinese oil demand.
Venezuela ships nearly 300,000 barrels per day of oil and fuel to
China, of which around 80,000 barrels are crude oil.
PetroChina and PDVSA will supply the Guandong refinery with oil
produced from the Junin 4 block of the vast Orinoco heavy crude belt,
which holds some of the largest oil reserves outside the Middle East.
Venezuela this week said it had increased its estimated total oil
reserves by about 30 percent to 130 billion barrels.
Much of this comprises Orinoco oil, which is too heavy to be processed
by traditional refineries, but can be turned into more valuable oil
when blended with lighter crude or run through four multibillion-
dollar heavy oil upgraders.
Chavez last year nationalized the four projects, driving out U.S. oil
giants Exxon Mobil (XOM.N: Quote, Profile , Research) and
ConocoPhillips (COP.N: Quote, Profile , Research) in the process. Both
companies are carrying out arbitration proceedings against Venezuela.
Tensions between Venezuela and Exxon, which briefly froze $12 billion
in Venezuelan assets as part of the dispute, helped push oil prices
toward $100 per barrel in the run-up to the most recent record of $126
per barrel. (Editing by Mohammad Zargham)
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