In March 2019, Venezuela's crude oil production (excluding condensate) averaged 840,000 barrels per day (b/d), down from 1.1 million b/d in February,

Since January, Maduro’s administration has been in talks with allies in Moscow about ways to circumvent a ban on clients paying PDVSA in dollars, the sources said. Russia has publicly said the U.S. sanctions are illegal and it would work with Venezuela to weather them.

Venezuela’s state-run energy company, PDVSA, kept oil exports near 1 million barrels per day in March despite U.S. sanctions and power outages that crippled its main export terminal, according to PDVSA documents and Refinitiv Eikon data.

PetroChina Ltd, the listed subsidiary of state-owned CNPC, expects its crude imports from Venezuela to drop by about a third to around 10 million mt (about 186,000 b/d) in 2019 from 15 million mt in 2018, a senior executive said

IEA - Until recently, Venezuela’s oil production had stabilised at around 1.2 mb/d. During the past week, industry operations were seriously disrupted and ongoing losses on a significant scale could present a challenge to the market.

PLATTS - An international tribunal on Friday ordered Venezuela to pay ConocoPhillips roughly $8.7 billion in compensation for the seizure of company assets in 2007.

PLATTS - China's crude imports from Venezuela surged 50.7% month on month to 411,000 b/d or 1.74 million mt in January, posting the fifth month in a row of increase after hitting a four-year low last September, data released by the General Administration of Customs showed

PLATTS - The US is set to impose "even stronger sanctions" on Venezuela President Nicolas Maduro's financial networks, likely further hindering crude oil production and exports as US sanctions on state-owned oil company PDVSA entered their fifth week, US Vice President Mike Pence said Monday.

EIA - Recently announced U.S. sanctions directed at Venezuela’s energy sector and state oil company, Petróleos de Venezuela, S.A. (PDVSA), will essentially eliminate U.S. imports of Venezuelan crude oil as the full effects of the sanctions emerge. However, the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) does not anticipate any significant decrease in U.S. refinery runs as a result of these sanctions.

PLATTS- US refiners cannot rely on Mexico to replace Venezuelan heavy oil imports as the country is battling to reverse its declining production and Pemex's oil is sold under contractual basis, analysts and others say.