Oil exports to China in 2015 are to match current oil shipments to the US

Rafael Ramírez, Venezuela's Minister of Petroleum and Mining and president of state-run oil company Petróleos de Venezuela (Pdvsa) specified that oil exports to China would be equal to current shipments of Venezuelan oil to the United States.

Ramírez commented that Pdvsa intends to export one million barrels a day to China in two years. The Asian superpower currently imports 460,000 barrels a day from Venezuela.

Ramírez recalled that Pdvsa is already building in China one of the three refineries it plans to construct in the Asian country. "China has one of the fastest growing markets. A lot of companies are requesting the Chinese government to build refineries there and we are one of the few corporations that are building not one but three refineries in China," the minister exclaimed during an interview in a show aired on state-run TV network Venezolana de Televisión.

He added that Venezuela will be able to meet the growing world oil demand. Ramírez reiterated that Venezuela's production target is four million barrels a day in 2014, and six million barrels a day in 2019.