OREANDA-NEWS. May 30, 2013. China continues to gain ground as the top buyer of Venezuelan oil, and is likely to replace the United States as the historically major purchaser of Venezuelan oil and byproducts.

State-run oil giant Pdvsa increased by 18% the oil shipments to China, to an average of 626,000 barrels per day, said Minister of Petroleum and Mining and President of Pdvsa, Rafael Ramirez.

"From 49,000 bpd of oil in 2005, Venezuela is sending 626,000 bpd of oil to China this year," said Ramirez at the Orinoco Oil Belt, during a visit he paid with Chinese Vice President Li Yuanchao to Venezuela-China oil joint venture Petrosinovensa, Reuters reported.

During Yuanchao's visit, a USD 4 billion loan for Petrosinovensa was discussed. An agreement on the loan is expected to be reached in the next few weeks.