Envoy: U.S. Can Survive Without Venezuela’s Oil

The United States could survive without Venezuelan oil supplies, but Washington has no intention of damaging commercial ties even as diplomatic relations sour, the U.S. ambassador to Caracas said in an interview published Monday.

Venezuela, the world’s No. 5 oil exporter, supplies around 15 percent of U.S. energy imports, but Washington and President Hugo Chavez are locked in a dispute over his alliance with Cuba and Iran and his fierce opposition to U.S. policies.
CNN