U.S. sanctions against Venezuela, including the revocation of licenses and threats of tariffs, have resulted in an 11.5% drop in the country's oil exports in March.

President Donald Trump has revoked the licenses that allowed several transnational oil and gas companies to operate in Venezuela despite the country being under US sanctions. The cancellation of the licenses will prevent PDVSA from using oil to pay the foreign energy companies for gas,

The Trump administration threatened on Monday to impose 25% tariffs to countries that buy oil or gas from Venezuela