Chavez: No plan to suspend US oil shipments

CARACAS, Venezuela (Reuters) – Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said on Friday his government had no plan to suspend oil supplies to United States but would prefer to give priority to energy deals with Latin American neighbors.

Speaking to regional central bank representatives, Chavez took a softer line after earlier harsh rhetoric and threats to cut off U.S. petroleum supplies should Washington “cross the line” in their heated diplomatic dispute.

Venezuela, the world’s fifth-largest oil exporter and a key U.S. crude supplier, has signed energy pacts with Latin American neighbors, China and India as Chavez seeks to break his nation’s traditional economic reliance on the United States.

“It’s not that we have a plan to suspend shipments of oil to the United States or anywhere else,” he said. “We send to China too and if Europe needs it, we’ve told their leaders, too. It’s just that we want to give priority to Latin America and the Caribbean.”

Reuters