International Oil Demand

Bloomberg has an article about Venezuela signing a deal with China to form a joint venture that will produce oil in Venezuela's Orinoco Belt to supply a new 400,000 barrel-a-day refinery that will be built in China. That's a pretty big deal. Most important is the shift from Venezuela primarily selling to the U.S. market.

Venezuela is diversifying its energy markets to reduce reliance on its biggest customer, the U.S. The country sends 300,000 barrels a day to China, Chavez said. Venezuela sent 12,300 barrels a day in 2004, before President Hugo Chavez said it was a priority to increase sales to the Asian nation.