Senator Dick Lugar, Ranking Member of the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Wednesday issued a statement in response to threats made by Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez to halt oil shipments to the United States and the declaration last Tuesday that Venezuela would discontinue oil sales to Exxon refineries. 
 
"I urge the government of Venezuela to maintain this discussion within the legal framework that ExxonMobil and Venezuela's state-run oil company, Petroleos de Venezuela SA (Pdvsa) chose to resolve their differences," Lugar said in a communiqué published on his official website.

Lugar urged the parties to resolve their dispute without creating further disruption to global oil markets. "Stability in oil supplies being traded freely in the global marketplace is vital to the interests of both importing countries and exporting countries," Lugar said.
 
According to Lugar, the possibility that Venezuela is no longer seen as a reliable trading partner "could be catastrophic" for its domestic production, particularly as it attempts to develop technically-challenging heavy oil reserves.

In the document, Lugar warned that "the people of Venezuela could suffer tremendously and its economy could be crippled if oil revenues are lost. This was highlighted in the Government Accountability Office (GAO) report I requested three years ago."

Senator Lugar requested in November 2004 that the US Government Accountability Office (GAO) examine the prospects for a Venezuelan shut-off of oil exports to the United States and the United States government capacity to respond.  The report was released June 27, 2006. 

A copy of the GAO report is available at: http://lugar.senate.gov/energy/venezuela/