Petroleos de Venezuela May Buy 18 Chinese Oil Tankers

Bloomberg – Petroleos de Venezuela SA said it may buy 18 oil tankers from China for $1.3 billion as Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez follows through on his promise to send more crude oil to Asia and less to the U.S.

Preliminary orders for the tankers were placed with China State Shipbuilding Corp. and China Shipbuilding Industry Corp., a Petroleos de Venezuela spokesman said today in a telephone interview. Some details remain to be completed, the spokesman said. He gave no timetable for delivery of the ships.

“Chavez really wants to tie himself more closely with China and get away from the U.S., and this really does it,” said Roy Nersesian, a professor at the Center for Energy, Marine Transportation and Public Policy at Columbia University in New York. “This is a big deal.”
Bloomberg