ANTONIO: Venezuela's state-run oil company PDVSA has started using China Citic Bank to collect money from crude and fuel sales instead of Portugal's Banco Espirito Santo, according to a company document seen by Reuters on Friday.

PDVSA told buyers this week that payments can still be made in dollars or euros. Every payment used to be made at its accounts with Banco Espirito Santo, which Portugal said this month it would rescue because of financial woes.

PDVSA's move comes as Venezuela tries to lift exports of crude and products to China to 1 million barrels per day (bpd), part of broader oil-for-loan deals that have allowed the South American country to receive more than $40 billion in credits since 2007.