Venezuelan President, Hugo Chavez, has shrugged off oil sanctions by the US, hinting that new markets may present better targets.
The sanctions were announced by US President Barack Obama as a long-running diplomatic feud over exports to Iran escalated. The sanctions were against Venezuala's state-run oil producer, Petroleos de Venzuela (PDVSA as well as six other companies from other countries, after the US State Department stated that PDVSA had shipped refined petroleum products to Iran with a value of some $50m.
However, President Chavez goaded the US and Obama by claiming that the country is already making contingency plans in case of further sanctions and that China was amongst other markets that were already being exploited. Venezuela's El Universal newspaper added fuel to the flames by stating that the US oil export market had "lost significance" as a result of "sovereign diversification of markets".
There was also a stark warning from OilPrice.com's John Daly who highlighted the fact that Venezuela is one of the top five oil exporting countries to the US at almost 1bn tb/d and questioned whether an anatagonistic approach was wise in the context of rising US fuel prices and $32bn of Chinese assistance to Venezuela set to be repaid in oil supplies.