Venezuela, China ink deal to boost oil output

CARACAS?- Venezuela and China have reached a $2.2 billion agreement to jointly produce 227,000 more barrels of oil a day, the state Venezuelan News Agency said on Thursday.

President Nicolas Maduro announced the deal after meeting with representatives from the China National Petroleum Corp (CNPC) in Caracas, the agency said.

Venezuelan state oil company PDVSA and the CNPC in 2007 created a joint venture, Petrozumano, to increase production mainly for exporting to China.

Maduro hailed the accord, saying, "We are going to reach 800,000 barrels a day with China."

To increase the output at Petrozumano, the agreement also calls for the construction of the Jienyang Refinery.