Venezuela and Argentina began construction Wednesday on the first ship in a new fleet of oil tankers for Venezuela's state oil company that will enable it to export more oil to new markets.
State-run Petroleos de Venezuela SA, or PDVSA, began working with shipbulders Rio Santiago of Argentina and Venezuela's Dianca on the 47,000-metric ton (52,000-ton) "Eva Peron," which is the first of four tankers to be built in Argentina, PDVSA said in a statement.
PDVSA has also signed deals with companies in China for 18 tankers and with Brazil for 10 vessels as part of a plan to expand its oil shipping capacity.
PDVSA said last year that it would spend $2.2 billion to more than triple its fleet of tankers to 58 by 2012 so that it can ship more oil and gas to Asian and other markets.
At present, PDVSA ships 15% of its crude and oil product exports but will be able to raise that to 45% by 2012 with the new fleet, PDVSA said.
