Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and his Venezuelan counterpart, Hugo Chavez, laid the cornerstone of an oil refinery in northeastern Brazil on Friday as part of their plan for regional energy integration.

The refinery, which will cost some 2.5 billion U.S. dollars, is one of the three projects of Petrosur de Brasil agreed by the energy ministers of Argentina, Brazil and Venezuela in May.

The plant, which will begin operation in 2011, will turn heavy crude from Venezuela's huge Orinoco Belt and Brazilian offshore fields into diesel fuel, naphtha and other oil products.

It is expected to process up to 200,000 barrels a day.

Chavez said in a speech that Venezuela, the world's fifth largest oil exporter, is seeking regional integration by looking south, alleging that the United States "took our wealth and left us with poverty."

The Jose Inacio Abreu e Lima refinery, named after a general who fought alongside Caracas-born General Simon Bolivar to help free Latin American nations from colonial rule, is part of this plan, he said.

Chavez had vowed to share his country's oil wealth with every nation in South America, aiming to strengthen ties while offering an alternative to the U.S.-backed Free Trade Area of the Americas.

Meanwhile, Lula struck a more conciliatory note by advising Chavez to be more patient with U.S. President George W. Bush, but agreed with him on regional integration.

Sourc: Xinhua