Venezuela state oil company borrowing to pay debts

The Venezuelan oil minister said Wednesday that the state-run petroleum company will borrow money so it can pay outstanding bills owed to contractors accumulated since oil prices began sliding nearly a year ago.

Rafael Ramirez said the company will raise the money at home by selling bonds denominated in Venezuelan bolivars, but provided no details on how much debt would be taken on or when the sale would take place. He told reporters the proceeds would go “to pay our national obligations.”
State-run Petroleos de Venezuela SA, or PDVSA, has run up billions of dollars in debts to domestic and foreign contractors, prompting some, such as Dallas-based oil driller Ensco International Inc., to halt operations. With world oil prices 53 percent below last July’s peak, PDVSA says it wants to renegotiate what it calls overvalued contracts to reduce costs.

PDVSA previously said its total financial debt stood at $14 billion last year.

Forbes