
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro recently said his government would continue producing oil, a day after the United States gave energy giant Chevron a month to stop operations in the Caribbean country.
Chevron produces and exports almost a quarter of the one million barrels of crude each day from Venezuela, providing vital revenue for Maduro's government.
The US Treasury Department said recently that Chevron must stop pumping within 30 days, a time frame industry insiders described as unrealistic.
"The government sanctioned a US company. Trying to harm the Venezuelan economy, they are hurting themselves because we are going to continue producing, recovering, growing, and nothing and nobody is going to stop us," Maduro said.