Venezuela plans to increase oil sales to China by 50,000 barrels per day (bpd) by the end of the year, the country's oil minister said. Venezuela's state oil monopoly, Petroleos de Venezuela SA, will increase sales to China to 200,000 bpd from the current 150,000 bpd, Rafael Ramirez said late Tuesday. He said the shipments include crude oil and other products, such as fuel oil. President Hugo Chavez and other officials said earlier that they hoped Venezuela would export 300,000 bpd to China by the end of the year. While the United States remains the largest buyer of Venezuelan crude, Chavez's government wants to sell increasing amounts to a variety of other countries. Chavez also plans to finalize an agreement during a visit to Beijing this month to buy 12 Chinese-made oil drills and to have an additional 12 drills assembled in Venezuela at a new joint factory, Ramirez said.
