Venezuela’s PDVSA in credit, gas talks

Venezuelan NOC PDVSA is negotiating fresh credit lines with top IOCs as well as gas supply deals with Colombia, Aruba and Trinidad and Tobago, international media reported on Thursday.

Two separate Reuters reports breaking the developments came days after the International Swaps and Derivatives Association and two credit agencies decided that PDVSA and Venezuela were in selective default.

“We are speaking to our allies, with our strategic partners, which are Rosneft, Eni, Repsol, Statoil, and they are willing to continue working with us, to continue financing our projects to boost crude and gas output in the short-term,” Cesar Triana, the NOC’s vice-president for gas, said in an interview with Reuters.

Venezuela’s total public debt stands at about USD 150 billion, including USD 45 billion owed by PDVSA. On November 15, Russia agreed to restructure USD 3.15 billion of the country’s debt, though the figure did not include USD 6 billion owed by PDVSA to Rosneft.