"We were consuming about 1.5 million barrels of petroleum a day (from Venezuela), which we're not getting now," a US State Department Official said. "This means we would have to get it from some place else."

The threat comes as the Venezuelan government and opposition remains deadlocked on talks aimed at finding a solution to the current crisis.

Oil prices have fell for the third day running as Saudi Arabia proposed an OPEC output increase of 8%, or 1.5 million to two million barrels a day. OPEC looks set to discuss the proposal at its 12 January meeting. Currently, oil is trading at $US30.9 a barrel in New York.

Meanwhile, South Korea, the world's fourth largest consumer of crude oil, says it might curb oil product exports, subsidise imports and use stockpiles if war breaks out in Iraq and the strikes in Venezuela keep disrupting supplies.