Venezuelan oil shipments to the United States will continue to drop as Venezuela continues to diversify its economy, and an example is the negotiations currently under way with China, Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez told an Argentinean TV channel.

Chávez stressed that Venezuela's entry into the Common Market of the South (Mercosur) has been accompanied by calls to reformat the bloc. "We have to take asymmetries into account. Now, the largest countries -Brazil and Argentina-, and Venezuela too, should listen to the small countries facing more difficulties."

According to Chávez, Mercosur "either transforms itself or dies," like the Andean Community of Nations (CAN) died.

“The latest reports show that Venezuela is no longer among the three largest oil providers to the United States, and (Venezuelan oil sales to US) will continue to drop because we are diversifying. We are selling oil to China. This year, sales will be around 500,000 bpd. This crude oil is deducted from the stream of oil we are sending to the United States everyday,” Chávez said.

 According to Chávez, the United States has been plundering Venezuela. “In almost 100 years, a tanker carrying Venezuelan oil had not arrived in Argentina. We are free now.”

Chávez underscored that decreasing oil sales to the US are not undermining Venezuelan economy. “We have been cementing very solid alliances with countries such as China, and now we are working with India, South American countries, and we are going to build a refinery in Brazil. We are virtually bulletproof regarding oil issues.”