In retaliation for what Venezuala describes as economic harassment, Petroleos de Venezuela, the country's state-run oil company, has cut crude sales to ExxonMobil.
Last week British and Dutch courts granted ExxonMobil's demand to freeze as much as $12 billion in Venezuelan oil assets. The company is challenging Venezuela's decision to nationalize a large oil project in which ExxonMobil had a large financial stake.