US imports less oil from Venezuela

U.S. imports of Venezuelan oil and oil products fell by 11.7 percent to a five-year low in the first four months of the year, the U.S. government said Monday, while Venezuela boosted oil shipments to its budding ally, China, instead.

The U.S. imported an average 1.13 million barrels of crude and petroleum products a day from Venezuela in the first four months of 2008, from about 1.28 million barrels a day in the same period last year, U.S. Energy Information Administration figures show. The last time U.S. imports were that low, a strike had paralyzed Venezuela’s oil industry in 2002-2003.

AP