China invests in Venezuela oil

China will invest US$5 billion in Venezuela by 2012 to help boost Venezuela's oil output, the Wall Street Journal reported. Oil Minister Rafael Ramirez made the announcement following a visit to China by President Hugo Chavez. The president said last week he wants to see the Latin American country become China's top oil supplier by 2010. Ramirez said the investment is important because it will help boost production to 5.8 million barrels of oil per day by 2012. Currently, Venezuela provides 150,000 barrels per day to China and plans to double that next year before increasing exports to 500,000 by 2010.