The late Venezuelan Pres Hugo Chavez used to berate the old management of state oil company Petroleos de Venezuela (PDVSA) for sending oil to Europe. Fast-forward 15 years, and PDVSA is firmly in the hands of the late president's adherents. Last year, PDVSA sent more oil to Asia than to North America, the first time in the company's history, even though it takes a month for Venezuelan crude to reach China and India. Growing sales to China are mostly in response to cash-strapped Venezuela's soaring debt with Beijing. In the last few years, Venezuela has borrowed more than $40 billion from China to cover its budget deficits, and those loans are repayable in oil.