Organization of American States (OAS) Secretary-General José Miguel Insulza said Monday that existing sound, trade foundations help improve strained US-Venezuelan relations.

"I have reasons to think that they should improve or will never go too far and worsen, because anyhow Venezuela is the eight oil exporter to the United States," Insulza said in the context of the Seventh Conference of Defense Ministers of the Americas.

The OAS Secretary-General remembered that Venezuela is the country with the best balance of trade with the United States in the hemisphere, AP reported.

He added that Venezuelan sells not only oil, but byproducts to the United States. Venezuelan gasoline is distributed in more than 12,000 stations across the nation.